There are a lot of things you should probably know to understand why a bunch of kids decided to climb up a tree house and not come down. But to really understand it, you'd probably have to go way back in time, and peek through the living room window of a girl named Winifred Malladi-Maraj, on her last day of fourth grade . . .
Thus begins the story of Winnie's parents' divorce (sad though it was), of the arrangements that followed (three days a week with each parent, and Wednesdays to herself in a treehouse smack in between both of their houses), and of Winnie's growing frustration with her lack of free time (due to her parents' ceaseless efforts to make the most of the time they each had with her). It was just this frustration, which was caused by several weeks of missing out on activities with friends, of skipping homework, and of wishing she had time to create a story for the upcoming contest, that prompted Winnie to barricade herself in her treehouse and refuse to come out -- an idea which her friends from Tulip Street Elementary found so appealing that they decided to join her. But with ten kids in one treehouse, all with their own agendas and demands, Winnie discovers that no one is happy with their status quo, and they're counting on her to change it! What had she gotten herself into?
The kids have turned the tables on the parents, and all rules have been tossed out the window. But as Winnie quickly begins to realize, having a community she can count on is a good thing--and it makes her realize what it is she truly wants from her parents.
