Up in the Treehouse

Johnny Cotter first met Charlie Milner when they were both children, attending Freeport Kindergarten. It was there that their friendship formed, and it was at Charlie’s house, in his backyard, and up in his treehouse, where the boys grew closer. But as childhood gives way to adolescence, Charlie finds himself the victim of a bullying campaign so severe that his whole world grows dark, and Johnny finds himself fearing for his friend’s safety, his sanity, and his soul. It is at Freeport High School that Charlie’s rage and sadness finally boil over, when he seeks revenge on his jock tormentors. And it is at Freeport High where Johnny has to make a decision, a choice that could cost him his life and the life of his best friend.

"Touching, tender, and horrifying, Hirsch directs the reader's emotions in this work of literary realism with even more power (armed only with his characters and their relatively normal lives) than in his more thriller based work. It's a hell of a thing to behold." 
- David S. Atkinson, Author of Bones Buried in the Dirt and The Garden of Good and Evil Pancakes

"In any case, it's been a long time since I've read a novel that captures as successfully as Treehouse the wild fluctuations of joy and sorrow, mirth and melancholy, jubilance and genuine grief that characterize boyhood and adolescence.  If readers remember, as some of us do, high school as a microcosm of life, then this book will serve to reinforce that view." 
-Tom Kakonis, author of Criss Cross and Treasure Coast 

"Up in the Treehouse is a seemingly innocent coming-of-age story masking deep hurts and permanent wounds. The book is a meditation on torment and its repercussions, a narrative tinged with tragedy that could happen to any family. The slow unfolding of events and Joseph Hirsch's poignant style makes this childhood story timeless." -Cetywa Powell, filmmaker