interesting....i didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the others, but i think that could be explained by the lack of Sings-to-Trees' perspective.
c'est le vie - the tone hasn't come down at all.
I agree with some of the others; i think it wouldn't be very hard for you to make this an honest-to-goodness novel (provided that you continue to be interested in writing if of course).
just a thought