THE GREAT SOCKATHON

Four good friends come up with a fundraising plan involving unmatched socks to save the town’s centerpiece, a 275-year-old rotting Gilead tree, after one of the girls is spiritually contacted by the tree’s resident ghost, Eliza, the little girl who died in 1932 after falling from a broken branch. The tweens’ efforts are admirable and supported by most residents, including the mayor and the local radio station. And while mother nature interferes at the end of the summer with a forceful hurricane uprooting the “old balmy” and blowing apart the lengthy sock chain throughout the town, all is not lost, as the monetary proceeds are used to plant a large new tree with Eliza’s ghostly approval. Loosely developed characters portraying glimpses of tween-related issues with parents, popularity, and trendy tastes drive the civic-conscious plot to a realistic ending and turn disappointment into a feasible solution. Harmless, safe, and bland for this market, this starter introduces Sabrina, Daisy, Connie, and Megan, who could possibly continue their escapades. (Fiction. 8-11)