Friday 16 December 2011

The Singing Tree

The Singing Tree is a story about cousins Janski and Kate and their struggle to continue life on the Hungarian plains during the First World War. At the start of the book Janski is 15 years old and the book covers about 5 years of his life. He loves horses more than anything else and when his father leaves to join the war he is put in charge of the horses along with the rest of the farm.
While Janski is struggling with the problems of the farm, Kate is having troubles of her own. You don't find petticoats growing on trees, you know! She often surprises Janski as he is used to the little girl who loves riding her white horse Milky, whereas Kate is becoming a young woman.
Throughout this story they lock girls in barns, gain 6 Russian men as workers and adopt 7 German children.
While I am sure this is a good book for some people it's simply not the kind of book I like. It lacked action, adventure and humour.  I think it would have been better if Janski's love of horses had been used in a dramatic escape.  Since I'm very fond of books and even I found it rather dull I'm giving The Singing Tree 50 out of 100 because it lacks interest for your average 12 year old.

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