47 pages • 1 hour read
Joan BauerStand Tall
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
The narrative begins with Sam Benton, known as Tree, talking to the administrative assistant at his school, who peppers him with questions. Tree’s parents recently divorced, and the secretary’s annoyance at missing forms emphasizes how complex Tree’s life has become. After school, he admires a giant white oak in the park. When Tree, a six-foot-three-inch seventh grader, stretches his arms out, Mrs. Clitter, a neighbor, walks by and asks about his grandfather, who is in the hospital recovering from surgery to amputate his leg. Thinking about his nickname and the oak’s strong root system and sturdiness, Tree is reminded of how people expect a lot from him just because he is tall. He realizes that to go to his mom’s house, he would leave in one direction, but to go to his father’s, he would head the opposite way.
Chapter 2 Summary
At his dad’s house, Tree visits his mom’s website, heymom.com, which she uses to communicate with Tree and his two older brothers, Curtis and Larry, who are away at college. She encourages them to share their feelings after the divorce, but the older boys just crack jokes. Tree stares at the empty spaces where furniture used to be and remembers the day his mom moved out. Their dog Bradley followed her everywhere, making her cry. The older boys knew the divorce was coming, but Tree had been completely surprised by it.
Sore from growing so much, Tree broods about his height. This year in school, he sits at a table by himself because the desks are too small. As he thinks this, Bradley puts a comforting paw on his hand. Tree tests his new dog training method by showing a picture of a dog balancing a treat on his nose. Tree commands Bradley to do the same. The dog succeeds for almost a minute before eating it. Afterward, Tree prepares to visit his grandfather.
Chapter 3 Summary
At the hospital, Tree scrunches into a chair and is reminded how, when he was little, his pediatrician had run tests to see if Tree had an unusual condition because of his height. The tests were negative. A nurse enters the room, and Grandpa jokes with her while she changes his bandages. In Vietnam, Grandpa was injured by shrapnel, but despite many surgeries, his leg never healed properly, so he opted for amputation. Now, he must learn to maneuver first with one leg and eventually with a prosthetic. After the nurse leaves, Tree helps Grandpa use a walker to get to the door and back, and then they amuse themselves by taking apart and reassembling a bedside lamp. Because Tree’s father is late picking him up and visiting hours are over, Tree disguises himself in a patient’s robe and tricks a staff member into thinking he is a patient too. When his dad finally arrives, they go home and talk about the divorce. Later, when he cannot sleep, Tree dissembles a laser pen and puts it back together. His grandfather has taught him the value of taking things apart to better understand them.
Chapter 4 Summary
At Tree’s basketball practice, Coach Glummer scolds the team for poor performance. He encourages them by saying they have hidden talent, especially Tree. Inwardly, Tree disagrees, for his height alone does not make him an exceptional basketball player. After trying many sports and practicing relentlessly, Tree recognizes that athletics are not his thing. However, everyone knows how athletic his brothers are, and every coach assumes that Tree will be too.
Later, at Grandpa’s rehab, Tree listens as the physical therapist, Mona, explains that the phantom pain Grandpa feels in his missing limb is normal. Mona tells Tree how to help his grandfather and explains that he should try to understand what it is like to have one leg. The more Tree can do this, the better support he can be. When Mona asks Grandpa to focus on what he has, the man lists the rest of his body, a strong mind, and a “world-class” grandson. As Tree watches, he thinks of the report he must present the next day at school. His presentation is on the Vietnam War. Although he is nervous to present, Tree is well prepared. He knows he can count on his best friend, Sully, to support him, and he hopes that he can earn better than the C- he normally gets on presentations.
Chapter 5 Summary
The next day, Tree delivers a powerful presentation on the logistics of the Vietnam War, the unique lingo associated with the conflict, and the climate back in America. Tree reports that many citizens were against the war, which resulted in protests, draft dodging, and mistreatment of returning soldiers. He also describes the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, DC, and his own grandfather’s experience. Tree plays a recording of Grandpa explaining how elusive the enemy was. On the recording, Grandpa declares that no one wants to fight a war, but it is necessary when people need to be protected. Tree earns an A on the report.
Grandpa will come home Friday, so Tree prepares a special homecoming, remembering advice from Mona to “think about everything you do each day, and then think about doing it with a disability” (34). Sully is there doing homework, and he nods in understanding because he wears hearing aids. Inspired, Tree gets to work, and by the time his dad arrives with dinner, Tree has concocted a pulley system to deliver food from the kitchen to Grandpa in the living room. Everyone is excited about the invention.
Later, Tree practices basketball in the driveway. As he dribbles the ball, Tree wonders why he is not athletic like his brothers. Curtis is patient and encouraging, unlike most of Tree’s coaches. Larry, on the other hand, just insults Tree. As Tree de-ices the front steps for Grandpa, he is upset to remember that he is supposed to stay with his mom when his grandfather returns.
Chapter 6 Summary
When Tree’s mom tells him about Christmas arrangements, all he wants is for the holiday to be like it once was. Tree informs her that Grandpa is coming home on Friday and that he would like to be there. When he promises to visit her, she gets frustrated that her house does not feel like a home to him. Feeling guilty, Tree takes her dog, Conan, to the park. Once there, Tree visits the giant oak. His mind wanders to how trees never stop growing, which worries him because he is already so tall. He remembers how the USS Constitution, a great battleship nicknamed Old Ironsides, was made from white oak that deflected cannonballs. Tree longs to be tough like the ship and like his grandfather.
Chapter 7 Summary
Tree’s mom bakes brownies for Grandpa, but Tree does not see her cry after he leaves. At his dad’s house, Curtis and Larry arrive to help get Grandpa. After some difficulty, they maneuver him into the van and make it home, where Grandpa and the boys are thrilled at Tree’s food delivery system. To Grandpa’s dismay, Mrs. Clitter stops by with cookies. When Grandpa offers to show her the scar from his amputation, she declines and leaves. In the days that follow, Tree helps the older man with his exercises. The boy wishes he had a workout to recover from his parents’ divorce, and he notices that his brothers are hurting too.
Chapters 1-7 Analysis
From the outset, Tree struggles with his parents’ divorce and his height, but his relationship with his grandfather is a comforting and influential presence in his life. At the park, he marvels at the majesty of his favorite white oak tree despite its barren branches. This causes him to think that “it was winter in his life too, and not just because it was December” (7). The bleakness of winter is a metaphor for Tree’s difficulties, specifically navigating his parents’ divorce and the challenges associated with it, like living in two separate houses. As Tree contemplates his nickname, he believes that he should understand how a tree works. As a result, he learns all about their root systems and the purpose of the bark. He explains that he studied all this because his grandfather taught him, “You’ve got to take a thing apart to see what it’s made of”—good advice because Grandpa “could fix almost anything” (5). In essence, when something arises, close examination can help a person understand it better. This is the first in a long line of lessons that Tree not only remembers but tries to enact in his own life. Although Tree grapples with multiple challenges associated with growing up, his grandfather is a constant source of inspiration and guidance, even though the man faces his own challenges.
Grandpa is one of several characters who demonstrates the theme of Resilience in the Face of Adversity. Tree’s mom also illustrates this theme when she tries to cope with the difficulty of her recent divorce and the impact on her children. Even though Tree despises his mother’s color-coded calendar, he notes that “when life got tough, his mother got organized” (1). Although this strategy does not solve all problems, it allows Tree’s mom to focus on what she can control. Her schedule is one example of this, as is her website, which encourages communication between her and the boys. On a larger scale, Grandpa demonstrates perseverance in the face of extreme adversity. After enduring the Vietnam War and his treatment upon returning to the US, now Grandpa copes with the aftermath of his amputation. This physical change will alter his life, yet Tree’s grandfather remains positive and works hard to address his challenges. Tree knows that Grandpa is made of “tough stuff” and “no matter what happened to him, he kept going” before and after the surgery (43). During physical therapy, “Grandpa looked at his half leg. It was easy to see the loss [...] But he wasn’t going to concentrate on that” (28). He makes the conscious choice to focus on all that he has. Grandpa’s determination to focus on the positive and what he does possess is part of what makes him resilient.
Another theme that emerges is The Impact of Expectations on Identity Development. Tree faces societal expectations due to his height. Comparing himself to the great white oak in the park, Tree thinks, “Tallness is packed with great expectations” (5), meaning that there is significant pressure on him simply because of his size. This is evident in basketball practice when his coach declares Tree has hidden talent, despite the boy’s struggles in the sport. After this, “Tree so wanted to tell him that being big didn’t mean being talented [...] Every coach Tree had ever known believed that somewhere he had athletic ability” (24). When Tree notes that “every coach” has voiced this belief, he suggests that this is an expectation he hears frequently: If he is tall, he must excel at sports. Later, Tree practices basketball late at night so no one can see him and wonders why he isn’t more athletic. The burden of these expectations causes him to think less of himself. Despite not enjoying the sport, he continues to practice in the hopes of meeting expectations. However, positive expectations also impact Tree’s self-perception. When Mona asks Grandpa what he does have, the man responds that the rest of his body is in good condition, his mind is sharp, and he has “a world-class grandson” (28), which makes Tree beam with pride and reinforces that someone believes in him. For this reason, the best part of his week is when he gets to spend time with Grandpa—instead of talking about sports or Tree’s height, they tinker with things, like taking apart and reassembling a lamp. Grandpa sees more than a tall kid in Tree and encourages him to embrace what he is good at because that is what makes him “world-class.”
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