Annie and her younger brother Rew live with their elderly grandmother in a town called Sunshine. They've dubbed the woods behind their house "Zebra Forest" because of its black and white trees, but this book definitely explore issues that are not so black and white. An unexpected visitor arrives at their house via Zebra Forest and turns Annie and Rew's world upside down. The story takes place in the summer of 1980, but the only hint of that is Annie's fascination with the Iran Hostage Crisis. Annie and Rew share a love of [b:Treasure Island|295|Treasure Island|Robert Louis Stevenson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312023209s/295.jpg|3077988], which allows the author to explore themes of judging good guys vs. bad guys. This is a mature story about guilt, forgiveness, and the ties that bind a family together. While there's not a lot of action, there are questions that hang in the air and keep the reader engaged with the plot.

Speaking of the plot, it hinges on one big coincidence (a man breaks out of prison and the house he chooses to hide out in happens to be the house where his estranged children are living with their grandmother--believable only because the grandmother chose to live in a house very close to the prison, but if you can accept it, then I'd call this a little book (about 200 pages) with a big emotional punch.

If you like well-written stories about nontraditional families like [b:Summer of the Gypsy Moths|12860772|Summer of the Gypsy Moths|Sara Pennypacker|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332510396s/12860772.jpg|18012637], [b:Sparrow Road|8730566|Sparrow Road|Sheila O'Connor|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348216824s/8730566.jpg|13603591], [b:What Happened on Fox Street|7883148|What Happened on Fox Street|Tricia Springstubb|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1306188439s/7883148.jpg|11091314], or [b:One Crazy Summer|6609764|One Crazy Summer|Rita Williams-Garcia|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347436965s/6609764.jpg|6803731], this would be a good pick. ( )

Zebra Forest is about an eleven-year-old girl named Annie and her little brother Rew. Annie and Rew live with their grandmother in what they have named the Zebra Forest. Annie doesn't know much about what her parents but she does know her father was killed during a fight. Annie and Rew make up stories about their long-lost father. They dream he was anything from a pirate to a pilot.
Sadly these stories cannot last forever for it is not true to them. Something that reveals the lie there grandmother told them about their father and
This is an interesting story about truth deception and most importantly complicated family relationships. Annie and Rew's parents were absent from their lives and their Grandmother and the only guardian sometimes got into moods where she'd just sit and brood. There was even a social worker who would come and check on them.

I liked how much they liked to read and I especially enjoyed their love of Treasure Island which I read last year for school. basically, I just love reading about characters who love books!
Overall it was a short read ( just over 200 pages) about some hard topics ( )

children's middlegrade fiction. Annie (11) and Rew (7 or 8?, her little brother) were left by their mom to the care of their grandmother and have been told all their lives that their dad was killed long ago by an angry man. As the story unfolds and the family is taken "hostage" by an escaped prisoner (who turns out to be--you guessed it), the children realize that is not exactly true--in fact, their dad was the angry man, in jail all these years for manslaughter. The story doesn't feel quite complete--the dad leaves abruptly after a couple months without incident (turning himself back in to the police) and there are other issues not quite dealt with, but there is enough substance here to make the story believable. (Note that the setting is 1979 and that the character is concerned with the Iran hostage situation, so kids will probably want to know more about that, if they're not familiar with it already.) ( )

I'm not always drawn in to read a book solely because of its cover. The story has to grab my attention as well. But I'll admit that the evocative cover for Zebra Forest got me sucked in all on its own and I'm forever grateful. I don't think my short review here can do the book justice. So much unfolds in its slender pages. It's a book that seems relatively simple and innocent on the surface, yet there is such depth that I'm still thinking about it a few weeks later. And I love how the presence and imagery of the zebra forest emerges as an essential character in the family's lives. What a wonderful story. I recommend getting it on your read list! ( )

Annie and her brother Rew live with their grandmother because their mom is gone and their dad is dead; so when their dad shows up at the door as an escaped prisoner, their world is upended. With Gran in a silent retreat behind the closed door of her room, it's up to Annie and Rew to figure out who are the good guys and the bad guys in their own story--and what they should do about it.

Grown-up portion of review:

The idea for this story is so good, but the book felt a little tired. Had it been more vigorously wrought, I think Gewirtz would have had a fair shot at a Newbery. And I'm still excited to see what she does next, now that she's got this first novel under her belt. ( )