The View From the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts

Rob tries and tries to get someone to listen to him – especially after several. Then it’s back to preparing for Darcy’s wedding again. Everyone thinks it’s a very clear accident, and the police wrap up her body and take her away. When the police come, Rob knows he has to say something about the man he saw push her – but no one will listen to him. Calloway dies – never hitting the ground because her nosy binoculars caught on a branch and strangled her. Calloway leaning out the window to shoo him away, and then he sees a pair of hands come from behind her and shove her – right out the window. She’s talking to someone – and she sounds angry – she’s refusing to do something, and then she sees Sonny.

Rob knows he has to stop Sonny, or they’ll both be in huge trouble, but before he can reach Sonny to grab him, Mrs. Calloway’s window – probably hoping to sneak inside and eat one of her goldfish again. Calloway’s windows, actually – when he sees Sonny creeping along the branch toward Mrs. Rob is up in the cherry tree – spitting pits at Mrs. Calloway – and try to keep his big black cat, Sonny, away from her too.

Plus, he can keep away from his grumpy, mean neighbor, Mrs. It’s easier for Rob to just disappear up the tree – otherwise someone might find a job for him to do. Lately, he’s been up there a lot – his sister Darcy is getting married, and the house is full of relatives and friends (and Darcy’s ex-suitors, too) preparing for the wedding and generally going insane. Rob is a quiet eleven year-old – he spends a lot of his time sitting in the branches of his family’s cherry tree, watching the neighborhood go by.

The View From the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts