For a boy growing up in the north extreme of Sacramento County in the 1950s, a dead tree, blackened by a 1947 fire becomes the key to the meaning of his life and understanding of the world.The Spook Tree is a semi-autobiographical historical fiction tour of Sacramento County history through the eyes of a boy as his early life unfolds in the once highly attractive suburb of North Highlands to witness its decline as it was linked to the larger events of the time to the present struggle for the future. Heavy on history with notations, The Spook Tree comes with a weighty bibliography including a few rare historical publications that combine to provide a trajectory into a hopeful future as a matter of choice.