SOLVED. Book cover is a boy trapped in tree roots. [s]

[Jacinta]

I honestly don't remember much about the plot of this book. I read it in the early 2000s, and I think it was fairly new at the time. It was written for older elementary or junior high students. I know the cover had a picture of a boy who seemed to be trapped in tree roots and mud, and he was screaming. I think that the plot might have involved him turning into a tree, but I'm not positive. I just think about that cover all the time, but cannot for the life of me remember what the book was.

[Tab]

Was this likely a mystery, fantasy, horror, etc?
Part of a series?

[Jacinta]

From what I remember, I think it was meant to be horror. Not read with all the lights on nightmare horror, but you know, early YA horror. And it was a stand-alone book.

[Amanda]

The Wish Giver: Three Tales of Coven Tree has a man who gets turned into a tree. I think there's an interior illustration similar to your description, but I don't see an edition with that as th cover.

[Jacinta]

That wasn't it, but it actually did lead me down a Google rabbit hole and I ended up finding the book I wanted: The Stranger by Caroline B. Cooney.

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Jacinta. Here's the link - The Stranger by Caroline B. Cooney.

[Tab]

Jacinta wrote: "That wasn't it, but it actually did lead me down a Google rabbit hole and I ended up finding the book I wanted: The Stranger by Caroline B. Cooney."

Here is the link
The Stranger