What do you think?
Rate this book
The Year Money Grew on Trees
With frostbitten fingers, sleepless nights and sore muscles, 14-year-old Jackson Jones and his posse of cousins discover the lost art of winging it when they take over an orchard of 300 wild apple trees. They know nothing about pruning or irrigation or pest control, but figure it out they must—if they are to avoid losing $8,000 (because of an unfair contract).
With spot illustrations for mechanical-loving readers—the gears of a tractor, a plow with disks—and with mathematical calculations of the great amount of money to be earned, this novel has the sort of can-do spirit and sense of earned independence not often found in today's fiction.
With spot illustrations for mechanical-loving readers—the gears of a tractor, a plow with disks—and with mathematical calculations of the great amount of money to be earned, this novel has the sort of can-do spirit and sense of earned independence not often found in today's fiction.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
21 people are currently reading
629 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
June 12, 2012
Although marketed for middle school, this is really more of a sweet story for adults with a sentimental attachment to the work ethic of kids of the early 1980s. Thirteen year-old Jackson is duped by his neighbor into pruning, fertilizing, irrigating, spraying, and ultimately harvesting apples from the 300 trees in her apple orchard. She makes him sign a contract agreeing that, after all of his and his young cousins' hard work, HE will pay HER $8000 out of his profits after selling the apples, and then MAYBE she will agree to deed him the orchard IF she thinks he worked hard enough. Putting aside the absurd idea that any attorney would have agreed to draft such an unconscionable contract that would have been unenforceable against a minor anyway, the lengthy passages in the apple orchard are unlikely to interest most modern-day middle-school readers. Jackson's parents seemed oddly disengaged from the story, too. Hawkins never clarifies why Jackson felt the need to lie to his family for so long about the unfair terms of his contract with his neighbor. In my view, this is not one of the stronger books on the 2013 Caudill list. I'd give it 2.5 stars -- somewhere between good and merely okay.
January 1, 2022
This book has many good lessons for children to learn from. I read it to prepare for the Georgics class that I teach. I may add it as a read aloud to my kids this year or next. The story is of a young teen boy who learns a lot by taking on an entire orchard of apple trees to raise and harvest with the help of his cousins and siblings.
January 7, 2020
Read at dinnertime with the family.
April 3, 2011
Our favorite snow cone guy kept telling us all summer "My son is going to have a book published!" I would smile and say how great that was, and thought it sounded a bit dull. I would never have even started it, but a friend let me borrow her copy. I am so glad! It was absolutely enjoyable in every way! I think adults youngsters may enjoy it, but adults will understand how funny some of the things are a little better. It was funny, sweet, heart-warming, and I a.most cried near the end when Brother Brown came to help! Although this may not be your type of book, you won't regret reading it! I especially liked the part when the uncle taught the boy how to syphon gas, how the kids tried to learn how to start and drive the tractor, when the sister held the light for him to pick apples at night and she dropped asleep, and ofcorse when Bro Brown showed up to save the day! Someone needs to hurry and read this, so I can laugh with them about it!
June 30, 2017
I really really enjoyed this one, probably more now than I would have when I was a kid.
August 14, 2011
"The Year Money Grew on Trees" is a superbly written story of a determined boy. Goaded into an agreement by his conniving neighbor Mrs. Nelson and trying to evade the summer job of doom lined up by his father, Jackson Jones works diligently to live up to the bargain of restoring a neglected apple orchard. Jackson enlists the help of his siblings and his cousins and spends a summer learning as he goes. Will he manage to grow a crop of apples worthy of selling? Will he be able to sell the apples once they are grown? Will he fulfill the bargain made with Mrs. Nelson and in return become the true heir of the orchard. The answers to these questions and many more await you in this wonderful book written by Aaron Hawkins.
May 30, 2013
Awesome little book about economics and hard work.
Jackson somehow becomes the owner of a 300 tree apple orchard at the age of 13 (to be 14 in a few weeks). He hires his cousins and siblings on contract and learns a lot of lessons from February to October about what it takes to run a business and manage employees.
The dads are questionable in this book. Supportive sort of and extremely sarcastic and critical. Moms aren't terribly supportive other.
His Sunday School teacher, Jeremy and Jerry are wonderful supports and it is nice to see those role models developed since the parents were pretty poor.
The kids are awesome, work themselves nearly to death and you will have to read it to see what happens.
Jackson somehow becomes the owner of a 300 tree apple orchard at the age of 13 (to be 14 in a few weeks). He hires his cousins and siblings on contract and learns a lot of lessons from February to October about what it takes to run a business and manage employees.
The dads are questionable in this book. Supportive sort of and extremely sarcastic and critical. Moms aren't terribly supportive other.
His Sunday School teacher, Jeremy and Jerry are wonderful supports and it is nice to see those role models developed since the parents were pretty poor.
The kids are awesome, work themselves nearly to death and you will have to read it to see what happens.
July 19, 2013
2013 Rebecca Caudill nominee. This was a story about fourteen year old Jackson Jones who lives next door to his cousins and a 300 tree apple orchard. One day the owner of the apple orchard challenged him that if he took care of the apple orchard for a whole year and paid her $8,000 from selling the apples he would be given the orchard. The owner is an elderly lady whose husband had passed away and she seemed to want to make this deal with Jackson to get back at her son for not helping her with the orchard. The story chronicles the year and how Jackson strives to meet the goal without letting anyone know what he is doing. I thought it was a good book but it didn't keep my interest. I don’t think many kids will be excited about reading the book.
April 15, 2013
Extremely heavy-handed about the values/joys of Work and Being Productive and "if we all work together, we can do something about the cats"--and while the religion wasn't overwhelming to me, I was sure within a few pages that the author was LDS and it might seem overwhelming to other people--but all the same, a fun and enjoyable read.
September 16, 2024
Lots of fun. A favorite in our family.
7/2016 Read with Lydia, Abigail, Calvin, Lincoln, Naomi, Julia, and Simon at lunch.
2024 Read with my children at lunch for the second time.
2024 A book of your choice
7/2016 Read with Lydia, Abigail, Calvin, Lincoln, Naomi, Julia, and Simon at lunch.
2024 Read with my children at lunch for the second time.
2024 A book of your choice
November 5, 2011
9 April 2011 THE YEAR MONEY GREW ON TREES by Aaron R. Hawkins, Houghton Mifflin, September 2010, 304p., ISBN: 978-0-547-27977-0
As a young child on Long Island, I had a wood-seated swing next to the backyard apple tree in which I learned to climb trees. In the fall, I'd gather the tart, green apples and work with Mom, turning them into pies.
And so it was with great pleasure that, when I found my dream home in California, it was bordered on two sides by a neighbor's expansive Gravenstein apple orchard.
The famed cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C. have nothing over what it was like to view forty acres of apple trees blooming in the spring. I developed a sense of reverence for those old, gnarled trees standing row after row on the hillside. With trunks measuring more than a foot in diameter, I imagined them having lived through the same memorable decades as had I.
At the tail-end of the 1990s, all of those distinguished, old apple trees were suddenly massacred in a couple of days time -- turned into firewood, with the ancient stumps piled up on the hillside in massive funeral pyres -- as the result of the wave of planting wine grape vineyards that swept our region.
It was really sad at the time but, in the long run, I'm figuring that the grapes are less of a nuisance to be next to: The vines are inundated with toxins sprayed to a height of only four feet, while the apple trees had been immersed in a spray cloud of toxins twenty feet high. I figure that with the grapes next door, somewhat less of those toxins end up drifting into my yard.
To make up for the loss of the old trees, I planted a few Gravenstein apple trees of my own.
THE YEAR MONEY GREW ON TREES, which also involves a lot of apple trees, begins in the midst of a blustery cold February in rural New Mexico in 1981. The coming summer is nowhere in sight, but thirteen year-old Jackson Jones is on a collision course with summer or, at least, summer plans.
Jackson's elderly neighbor, Mrs. Nelson, has repeatedly employed him to do odd jobs, and she has repeatedly failed to compensate him fairly for his efforts. Now, she has cornered him and is trying to sell him on an "opportunity of a lifetime" whereby Jackson will tend to her late husband's long-neglected 300-tree apple orchard; she will consider leaving him the orchard when she dies; and, maybe, she'll also give him some money if and when some apples are sold in the fall.
"But I can't go for that
(No) No can do"
-- Hall and Oates 1981 chart-topper
Jackson should, of course, run the other way and never seriously consider such a proposal. But there is a good reason why the book's first chapter is titled "A Bad Choice and a Worse One." For, on the very same day, at dinnertime...
"'I stopped by the scrap yard on the way home,' Dad announced after taking a few bites. 'Talked with 'ol Slim Nickles. He says he gets real busy during the summer and needs extra help. Just manual labor kinds of things, with no skills required. I told him I had a son who didn't have any skills but could probably haul things around. Slim said we could stop by and he'd look you over.' Dad finished by pointing his fork at me.
"I let my fork drop on my plate and my mouth hang open. The scrap yard was on the side of the highway Dad took to work, and he loved stopping in and searching through the mounds of metallic junk. He'd stop in on Saturdays and drag me along. I couldn't stand the place. It was filthy and smelled like burning rubber. And Slim Nickles was the biggest jerk I'd ever met. He was usually covered in grease and had a wide red face and a huge gut. He yelled every word he said and loved to intimidate people. The one time he'd noticed me, he warned me to keep my hands in my pockets or he'd snap them off.
"Before any sounds of protest could come from my mouth, Mom spoke up. 'He's only thirteen. Are you sure he's old enough to have a job?'
"'He'll be fourteen this summer. When I was fourteen, I was working as much as a grown man, maybe more,' replied Dad, his voice getting louder.
"Mom rolled her eyes. 'Are you sure that's going to be a safe place for a boy to work?'
"'It'll be safe enough. As long as he's not just sitting around the house like last summer. Any more of that and he'll be a freeloader the rest of his life.'"
Of course, the clincher for Jackson is that Slim's son Skeeter -- who'd also be working at the scrap yard -- is the middle school's bully. And so Jackson reluctantly decides to work out a deal with Mrs. Nelson to avoid the worse choice. He arrives at a written agreement with her whereby he will keep all the proceeds from apple sales in excess of the $8,000 she says is a reasonable annual return for herself.
He then fudges the truth with his parents. And keeps fudging it all spring, summer, and fall.
Meanwhile, after finding a book at the library on raising apples and realizing how over his head he is in this endeavor -- long before the first blossoms of spring even arrive -- he similarly fails to disclose the terms of his agreement with Mrs. Nelson to his siblings and cousins (who live next door). He succeeds in signing them all on to assist week after week in what they are told is a spectacular money-making scheme.
THE YEAR MONEY GREW ON TREES is the story of what happens from that cold February through those growing and harvesting seasons of 1981. Within the story there are lots of tools and principles of apple growing, and of business in general, that are both explained and illustrated (by the author). There are a couple of adult heroes to balance against the villainy of Mrs. Nelson and obnoxiousness of Jackson's father. And there is this great, old (older than me) tractor.
I love how Aaron R. Hawkings' story provides such interesting details about growing an orchard while simultaneously offering so many great lessons about business and about the manner in which one might behave in dealing with others, without ever becoming the least bit preachy.
As someone who grew up working, as someone who has always been good with numbers, and as someone who loves apple trees, this to me is a special tale.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_...
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EcolIt/
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
As a young child on Long Island, I had a wood-seated swing next to the backyard apple tree in which I learned to climb trees. In the fall, I'd gather the tart, green apples and work with Mom, turning them into pies.
And so it was with great pleasure that, when I found my dream home in California, it was bordered on two sides by a neighbor's expansive Gravenstein apple orchard.
The famed cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C. have nothing over what it was like to view forty acres of apple trees blooming in the spring. I developed a sense of reverence for those old, gnarled trees standing row after row on the hillside. With trunks measuring more than a foot in diameter, I imagined them having lived through the same memorable decades as had I.
At the tail-end of the 1990s, all of those distinguished, old apple trees were suddenly massacred in a couple of days time -- turned into firewood, with the ancient stumps piled up on the hillside in massive funeral pyres -- as the result of the wave of planting wine grape vineyards that swept our region.
It was really sad at the time but, in the long run, I'm figuring that the grapes are less of a nuisance to be next to: The vines are inundated with toxins sprayed to a height of only four feet, while the apple trees had been immersed in a spray cloud of toxins twenty feet high. I figure that with the grapes next door, somewhat less of those toxins end up drifting into my yard.
To make up for the loss of the old trees, I planted a few Gravenstein apple trees of my own.
THE YEAR MONEY GREW ON TREES, which also involves a lot of apple trees, begins in the midst of a blustery cold February in rural New Mexico in 1981. The coming summer is nowhere in sight, but thirteen year-old Jackson Jones is on a collision course with summer or, at least, summer plans.
Jackson's elderly neighbor, Mrs. Nelson, has repeatedly employed him to do odd jobs, and she has repeatedly failed to compensate him fairly for his efforts. Now, she has cornered him and is trying to sell him on an "opportunity of a lifetime" whereby Jackson will tend to her late husband's long-neglected 300-tree apple orchard; she will consider leaving him the orchard when she dies; and, maybe, she'll also give him some money if and when some apples are sold in the fall.
"But I can't go for that
(No) No can do"
-- Hall and Oates 1981 chart-topper
Jackson should, of course, run the other way and never seriously consider such a proposal. But there is a good reason why the book's first chapter is titled "A Bad Choice and a Worse One." For, on the very same day, at dinnertime...
"'I stopped by the scrap yard on the way home,' Dad announced after taking a few bites. 'Talked with 'ol Slim Nickles. He says he gets real busy during the summer and needs extra help. Just manual labor kinds of things, with no skills required. I told him I had a son who didn't have any skills but could probably haul things around. Slim said we could stop by and he'd look you over.' Dad finished by pointing his fork at me.
"I let my fork drop on my plate and my mouth hang open. The scrap yard was on the side of the highway Dad took to work, and he loved stopping in and searching through the mounds of metallic junk. He'd stop in on Saturdays and drag me along. I couldn't stand the place. It was filthy and smelled like burning rubber. And Slim Nickles was the biggest jerk I'd ever met. He was usually covered in grease and had a wide red face and a huge gut. He yelled every word he said and loved to intimidate people. The one time he'd noticed me, he warned me to keep my hands in my pockets or he'd snap them off.
"Before any sounds of protest could come from my mouth, Mom spoke up. 'He's only thirteen. Are you sure he's old enough to have a job?'
"'He'll be fourteen this summer. When I was fourteen, I was working as much as a grown man, maybe more,' replied Dad, his voice getting louder.
"Mom rolled her eyes. 'Are you sure that's going to be a safe place for a boy to work?'
"'It'll be safe enough. As long as he's not just sitting around the house like last summer. Any more of that and he'll be a freeloader the rest of his life.'"
Of course, the clincher for Jackson is that Slim's son Skeeter -- who'd also be working at the scrap yard -- is the middle school's bully. And so Jackson reluctantly decides to work out a deal with Mrs. Nelson to avoid the worse choice. He arrives at a written agreement with her whereby he will keep all the proceeds from apple sales in excess of the $8,000 she says is a reasonable annual return for herself.
He then fudges the truth with his parents. And keeps fudging it all spring, summer, and fall.
Meanwhile, after finding a book at the library on raising apples and realizing how over his head he is in this endeavor -- long before the first blossoms of spring even arrive -- he similarly fails to disclose the terms of his agreement with Mrs. Nelson to his siblings and cousins (who live next door). He succeeds in signing them all on to assist week after week in what they are told is a spectacular money-making scheme.
THE YEAR MONEY GREW ON TREES is the story of what happens from that cold February through those growing and harvesting seasons of 1981. Within the story there are lots of tools and principles of apple growing, and of business in general, that are both explained and illustrated (by the author). There are a couple of adult heroes to balance against the villainy of Mrs. Nelson and obnoxiousness of Jackson's father. And there is this great, old (older than me) tractor.
I love how Aaron R. Hawkings' story provides such interesting details about growing an orchard while simultaneously offering so many great lessons about business and about the manner in which one might behave in dealing with others, without ever becoming the least bit preachy.
As someone who grew up working, as someone who has always been good with numbers, and as someone who loves apple trees, this to me is a special tale.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_...
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EcolIt/
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
May 26, 2020
The book is “The Year Money Grew On Trees” and the author is Aron Hawkins. The reading or lexile level is 810. The book is about a fourteen year old girl who is offered land by this woman who just wanted someone to take care of the land when she is gone. The girl doesn't accept the offer at first but then she learns how much money she will make and says maybe because she also has to get parents permission.
It goes ok they are going off of what a book says.”Yea, but the book says the ones that do grow will be bigger.”(pg.62) At first it didn’t go so well. “It looks terrible.”(pg.64) It got better throughout the book. The march out to the orchard after school and on Saturdays became ritual.(pg.75) They got to do fun things. They were actually excited to drive the tractor around with the plow on for a few minutes.(pg.144)
I actually liked this book. It was fun and uplifting and it shows patience and progress. There are just a few pictures throughout the book but it is not too easy to read. My favorite part of the book was at the beginning of the book when the girl was given a big responsibility. I strongly recommend this book to kids and teens because it shows teamwork and working hard.
It goes ok they are going off of what a book says.”Yea, but the book says the ones that do grow will be bigger.”(pg.62) At first it didn’t go so well. “It looks terrible.”(pg.64) It got better throughout the book. The march out to the orchard after school and on Saturdays became ritual.(pg.75) They got to do fun things. They were actually excited to drive the tractor around with the plow on for a few minutes.(pg.144)
I actually liked this book. It was fun and uplifting and it shows patience and progress. There are just a few pictures throughout the book but it is not too easy to read. My favorite part of the book was at the beginning of the book when the girl was given a big responsibility. I strongly recommend this book to kids and teens because it shows teamwork and working hard.
October 27, 2018
Is life still like this book in America? A sweet and sometimes bitter tale of a boy living in New Mexico. His family's next door neighbor has a dormant apple orchard of 300 trees and together they make a deal if the boy and his brothers, sisters and cousins can make $8,000 selling apples they can grow on rejuvenated trees, for the money she'll deed the land to him.
It becomes a very hard learning experience, from pruning to spraying, fertilizing, watering, harvesting and selling before they understand what a business entails. The boy and his "crew" are taken advantage of, but matters workout. Nobody gets rich, but each gets a share of the excess with a promise of better pay next summer. Something to dream on!
It deserves 5 stars, but written for a "YA" readership, I give it 4 golden delicious stars!
It becomes a very hard learning experience, from pruning to spraying, fertilizing, watering, harvesting and selling before they understand what a business entails. The boy and his "crew" are taken advantage of, but matters workout. Nobody gets rich, but each gets a share of the excess with a promise of better pay next summer. Something to dream on!
It deserves 5 stars, but written for a "YA" readership, I give it 4 golden delicious stars!
May 1, 2019
This is a fun, educational, and inspirational story all in one, but don't tell your kids that. To them it's about a kid looking for a job that isn't working at the scrap yard that the school bully's father owns because his dad says he needs to be learning about hard work. This is a very positive story about teamwork, family and setting and making goals, all wrapped into a lesson on economics and the human spirit. As an adult i learned a lot about what goes into growing apples and I really enjoyed the characters, plot, and glimpse int a small town farming community.
January 7, 2020
The story of a boy who is tricked by an aging neighbor, into reviving an old apple orchard. In his naivety he thinks he can do what she has set him up to do, but soon discovers it's an impossible task. Or is it? With the help of his cousins, this young work crew defies the old lady and surprises everyone including themselves with what they can accomplish when they all work together.
A story of the value of allowing children to discover for themselves what they are made of. I wish these kinds of challenges were available for all children.
A story of the value of allowing children to discover for themselves what they are made of. I wish these kinds of challenges were available for all children.
January 26, 2023
Read in order to help my son with his book report. I loved the 1980s references. Jackson was clearly duped by his neighbor but it all turns out well in the end. A heartwarming story of hard work, unexpected helpers and a crash course of figuring things out. Our google/YouTube kids have so much at their fingertips, this is pretty “old school” and wonder of my 12-year-old how he will enjoy and what his take will be on the book.
July 22, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyable story! Going to get my husband to read it! I think everyone should read it.
I didn't like the adults, though. However, it wouldn't have been Jackson's story, if the adults helped.
I didn't like the adults, though. However, it wouldn't have been Jackson's story, if the adults helped.
May 17, 2019
We read this together as a family and everyone from our seven year old to our sixteen year old looked forward to each chapter. Even though we don't live on a farm, the book increased our respect for agreements, hard work, and nature. I'll leave it at that so I don't spoil anything.
June 22, 2019
Love love love this book! It is a great, entertains read and I made sure all my grandchildren have access to it. Aaron Hawkins spins a good yarn and this book teaches a profound lesson in hard work and provides kids with a glimpse into adult responsibility. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
October 2, 2019
This was a nice, easy read about a 14 year old boy who learns how to take care of an apple orchard with minimal help from adults. It reminded me of students who get motivated to learn and then enjoy it! It would be highly recommended to any students of mine.
January 18, 2020
In a nutshell, I found this book quite boring and the writing left something to be desired, granted I was assigned this book for 'Battle of the books' (through my school) which may have added to my dislike towards it.
Want to read
July 12, 2023(To-be-read)
From list "fiction recommended by economists" on Five Books. I am curious if it could give me a more realistic perspective on agriculture economics.
https://fivebooks.com/category/econom...
From list "fiction recommended by economists" on Five Books. I am curious if it could give me a more realistic perspective on agriculture economics.
https://fivebooks.com/category/econom...
August 16, 2024
So, I kinda had to force myself to read this. But I was (mostly) glad I did.
The plot is quite good. It’s not quite the intense thriller I usually enjoy, but, to be honest, it was kinda a nice break.
Rated G.
The plot is quite good. It’s not quite the intense thriller I usually enjoy, but, to be honest, it was kinda a nice break.
Rated G.
January 19, 2017
I highly recommend this book. Story and characters are engaging and true to life in rural America. I bought this book to give to my nephew who is 14 years old.
May 30, 2017
Delightful read. It was even more fun when I opened the book to find the story was set in northwest New Mexico. Glad I bought a copy for everyone at my house to enjoy it.
December 29, 2017
i liked it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 7, 2018
I read this to my son. Very good book that shows examples of character, hard work, independence and some math thrown in for fun.
January 7, 2020
This is a kid book. I thought it was entertaining, the ending put me in a good mood, and I thought it had some nice life lessons in there.
August 8, 2020
This reads more like a memoir than fiction. Not a lot of conflict to build tension and not much action. It was a good story, just not told well. Clean
April 29, 2023
I wasn't super into it for most of the book, and then all of a sudden at the end I found myself tearing up. Nothing objectionable for middle grade.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews