Customer Reviews

Up High in the Trees: A Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have just finished Up High in the Trees in one sitting. It is very engaging and makes you continue reading even though it's getting a little dark and it's hard to see. I would recommend it whether or not you are familiar with autistic/asperger children. Brinkman's style has you fully believing you reading a story through the eyes of an eight year old boy after the first ten pages. I found myself immersed in the storyline and feeling as though I was getting to know the main character, Sebby, on a personal level. For a first novel, I feel Brinkman has made a clear statement that she is a very talented writer and I am looking forward to her next work.

This is a wonderful, wonderful book. Although it does shed light on what it might be like to view the world as an autistic/Asberger's child, that issue is just one element in this unique and beautiful story. The author draws the reader so close into the feelings and perspective of the 8-year old narrator, you begin to identify with him and to see how his experiences reflect how we all deal with intimate tragedies.

Buy this book, you will be glad you did!!

This is a story told from the POV of an eight year old boy whose world has suddenly tilted him into a darker version of what it used to be. His mother died. The boy Sebastian, or Sebby as he is called is the main character. It may be that Sebby has Asperger's, although no one comes out to say so. He has a view of life that is very individual, and although endearing, it is often very sad.

This young boy tells of his mother's death and how the family copes, and in some cases fails to. Very important characters are Leo and Cass, his older brother and sister, who each demonstrates a strength and determination far beyond what is typical.

This is not an exciting book. It is rather sad, but even though sadness is a thread that runs through it from beginning to end, there is so much more to it. Hope is important to me. I like having hope. I like reading stories that give me hope. This story is hopeful, but not until the very end. Still, having hope when you need it is the most important time to have hope.

And then, there's love...and then there's love.

I found it difficult to warm to or become interested in the young autistic narrator of this book and his first-person presentation of sensory details. There simply wasn't enough of a plot here to keep me engaged and I abandoned the book at page 46. Mark Haddon's Strange Incident this is not. I read enough of Up High in the Trees to feel sure that Ms. Brinkman has talent and sensitivity, but I tend to wonder if the short story might not have been a better form for her. For those of you who need a story, not just the view from under the table or up in the trees, I would suggest borrowing the book from the library rather than purchasing it. Though the short chapters, many only a page each, give the reader the sense of moving along at quite a clip, I was essentially 1/6 of the way through the book without feeling that anything significant was happening, and I frankly didn't want to stay in the head of this particular narrator for another 250 pages. Too many other good books. Again: there was not enough going on to engage this reader--hence the low score. There is something to be said for writers who have stories to tell and plots to unfold.

I don't know much about Autism. I don't think putting a label on the psychic condition of a child tells us much about what's actually happening in his mind. However, this poetic novel provides real insight into the soul of a unique child through simple observation. It's spare prose illuminates the reader like an image glimpsed in a flash of distant lightning. There is no bludgeoning with over-wrought emotion. There is only the cunning invitation to reach out and touch the lives of these very real people in a moment of personal tragedy. This is a beautiful novel.

I AM REALLY ENJOYING THIS NOVEL, IT IS SAD FOR THE FACT THAT A FAMILY LOSES A LOVED ONE BUT I REALLY LIKE HOW IT IS TOLD THUR THE EYES OF A CHILD.

This book draws you in from page one. I read it all in one sitting. The author does a great job of describing how Sebby views the world by making you feel what he is feeling inside his head. You soon feel yourself thinking just like Sebby and you ache, feel confusion, fear, and joy right along with him as he struggles to understand the very real, and raw pain of losing his mother.

This first time author has proven herself as an author to keep your eye on. I can't wait for her next book and neither should you. Pick up this book today!

This book is gripping - you will adore Sebby and want him to be surrounded by love. Love the way it's presented in small chapters - very easy for busy people who don't have time to read hours at a time. The only thing that was odd was the obvious absence of anyone in this family seeking professional help and no extended family/friends helping after such a tragedy. However, if you ignore the "objective obvious," Sebby's perspective is amazing and you root for Cass as well. Everyone in our book club loved this book.

When I finished "Up High In The Trees" I missed Sebby instantly! This was a sad and endearing story told completely from the perspective of an 8 year old trying to come to terms with concepts too broad for his small shoulders to bear. Yet he is truly a hero, one who stays with the reader.

I thought overall this book was welll done. The thing I didn't like about the book is when the author decided one of the characters would have some interest in the political news of the time..that material didn't flow with the rest of the story..The books cover got me intersted in the boy that is pictured on the front. It did take me a long time to get through the book, but it was worth it.