The Secret Tree

Written by Natalie Standiford

Narrated by Merissa Czyz

A sweet story of a tree that's literally filled with secrets.

What is your secret?

Minty's neighborhood is full of mysteries. There's the Witch House, a spooky old farmhouse on the other side of the woods from where Minty and her best friend, Paz, live. There's the Man Bat, a seven-foot-tall half man, half bat who is rumored to fly through the woods. And there are the Mean Boys, David and Troy, who torment Minty for no reason, and her boy-crazy older sister, Thea, who acts weirder and weirder.

One day Minty spots a flash in the woods, and when she chases after it, she discovers a new mystery -- a Secret Tree, with a hollow trunk that holds the secrets of everyone in the neighborhood. Secrets like:

I put a curse on my enemy. And it's working.

I'm betraying my best friend in a terrible way.

No one loves me except my goldfish.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980080930

Natalie Standiford

Natalie Standiford was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and studied Russian language and literature at Brown University and in the former Soviet Union. She has written many books for children and teens, including How to Say Goodbye in Robot, The Secret Tree, and Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She lives with her husband in New York City, where she occasionally plays bass in rock bands with other restless writers. Find out more at NatalieStandiford.com.  

Reviews for The Secret Tree

[robinsonstef · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Secret Tree by Natalie Standiford is a book about the ups and downs of friendship and the secrets that we all keep inside. Minty is a character I could relate to because she is someone who enjoys being a kid and doesn’t really want things to change. My heart went out to her as she struggled with friendships that were in transition. I especially loved the advice her older sister gives her about middle school and friendships. I had fun trying to figure out who the secrets belonged to and found the detective work done by Raymond and Minty to be fascinating. The beginning of this book started off a little slow for me because I didn’t really know much about roller derby and there are many references in the first twenty pages. I stuck with the book, and I am glad I did! The rest of the book flew by, and I couldn’t wait to see how everything turned out. I recommend this book for kids in third through seventh grade. Kids getting ready for middle school will relate to this book and will connect to the characters. It makes you wonder what secrets the people around you are keeping!

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Minty is trying to enjoy summer. Her best friend starts acting weird and she hears whispers from a tree in the woods behind her house. The tree is a place where people in her town leave their secrets. With her new, mysterious friend Raymond, whe begins to spy on her family, freinds, and neighbors in the hopes of discovering what secret belongs to whom and to help people begin to solve their problems. Sometimes major problems are just skimmed over, and it's got the old friendship changing in middle school thing with a lot of happily ever after resolutions. A cute breezy story.

[karenball_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Otis said when you disturb a spirit's grave, the ghost floats out of the ground and goes to live in a tree. Especially a tree with holes in it. And it eats secrets. So if you find a tree with a hole in it, you can put your secret there and the spirit makes it go away"..."How does Otis know so much about spirits?" I asked. "He's from Louisiana," Raymond told me. "He knows voodoo."Minty (Araminta Mortimer) lives in a town full of secrets, and her summer revolves around discovering the stories behind the mysteries while figuring out how to be herself when everyone around her is changing. When she sees something streaking through the woods, she follows it and discovers the Secret Tree, which holds a tightly folded scrap of paper: No one loves me except my goldfish. More secrets follow: I put a curse on my enemy. And it's working. I'm in love with Kip Murphy. I wish I had the guts to run away. I'm betraying my best friend in a terrible way. Minty befriends Raymond, who appears to be living alone in the abandoned half-built housing development that went bankrupt. Together they work to figure out whose secrets are whose from the Secret Tree, in a town that has a Witch House and a back-from-the-grave seven-foot-tall Man-Bat. There are Mean Boys, grouchy older sisters, and a missing stuffed animal. Everyone has secrets, even Minty, and all of them weave together for a wonderful mystery. 6th grade and up

[peggygillman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a cute book. A little young but still fun. 6/30

[bookappeal · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cute story of a girl on the cusp of middle school where, as her older sister warns her, everything changes. Minty doesn't feel like anything is changing. She still loves roller derby and pretending to be great roller derby stars with her friend, Paz. But then she walks past a strange tree in the woods - a tree that holds people's secrets. Minty soon has a secret of her own - a boy with whom she tries to discover the hidden fears and desires of the neighborhood. But Minty's investigations uncover things she'd rather not know - like how Paz may not be her friend after all and that her older sister may be annoyingly right - everything IS changing. The author captures the thinking of an 11-year-old well, especially in her relationship with her older sister and friend. The novel explores light coming-of-age issues with humor.