The Only Branch on the Family Tree
By (Author) Sherryl Clark
Illustrated by Astred Hicks
University of Queensland Press
University of Queensland Press
29th April 2025
Australia
Children
Fiction
Childrens / Teenage personal and social topics: Families and family members
Childrens / Teenage fiction: Stories in verse
Paperback
112
Width 1mm, Height 1mm, Spine 1mm
122g
A poignant middle-grade verse novel about family estrangement and reconciliation from Prime Minister's Literary Award-winning author Sherryl Clark. It's always been Gemma and her mum - just the two of them. As close as best friends. But while researching a class project about family, Gemma makes a life-changing discovery. Her nan is not dead, like Mum told her, but alive and well and living close by. Gemma now has huge question marks hanging over her. Why would Mum lie about this What is her nan like And what would happen if Gemma tried to find her The Only Branch on the Family Tree is a story about secrets, forgiveness and finding a way for relationships to blossom.
Sherryl Clark is a writer, editor and writing teacher with an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and a PhD in Creative Writing. She has been writing poems and stories for children for over twenty years. Her verse novel, Farm Kid, won the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Children's Books in 2005 and Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!) was an Honour Book in the 2008 Children's Book Council of Australia Awards. In 2022, Sherryl won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Children's Literature for her verse novel, Mina and the Whole Wide World.