Book Review: The Leopard Tree by Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu

About:     
The Leopard Tree by Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu is a novel taking place in Kenya and the United States, following the journey of three war orphans. The novel is written with young adults in mind, and my review and rating reflects that.

• 158 pages
• Publisher: Heartfelt Publications
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979393302

 

My rat­ing for The Leopard Tree — 4

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Thoughts:
The Leopard Tree by Tim Merriman and Lisa Brochu is aimed at the young adult (YA) crowd and that’s the way it reads. I really appreciate the authors’ intention of bringing to light an important and disturbing subject of war orphans and trying to create an awareness on the subject.

I really liked the characters of the book, the three Kenyan orphans are engaging and likeable. I also liked how the author took the Wizard of Oz and weaved that narrative into his storyline throughout the book.

The writing tries to simplify the very complex situation in Kenya, and does not do justice to explaining it, but in the author’s defense you’ll probably need a few books to even attempt to do it justice. I thought the dialog could have been written better, I felt it was unrealistic and clunky. The novel was missing a lot of the complexities of real life politics, I do not think you can blame fat, rich Americans for the woes of the world, nor should you, especially in places which corruption is the order of the day. I also disliked the celebrities making appearances in veil disguises (example: an Africa-American multimillionaire talk show host who is not named Oprah) – I don’t know why but that bothers me in every novel I read that tries to pull this off.

I thought the book did a great job introducing the subject of war torn countries and their effects on individual children. It was a fast, easy read and maybe something you could discuss with your teen or pre-teen kids.

Synopsis:
A trio of friends who meet in an orphanage in Kenya decide they have to raise awareness to the hopless situation they are in . The Three orphans from Kenya embark on a mission to meet with the Secretary General of the United Nations, thinking he is the human embodiment of the great and powerful Oz. The only book they have in their possession is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz which becomes their guidebook while traveling from coast to coast in the US.

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Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I bought this book.
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