By Alison McGhee
New York: Rocky Pond Books, 2024. Fiction. 201 pgs.
Ayla and her best friend Kiri are tree people and they always have been. On their street, people plant trees to honor loved ones who have passed on and to celebrate new babies when they are born. Ayla and Kiri's family's planted trees for them when they were born, and they love to spend time in their trees; caring for them, loving them, and encouraging them to grow up big and strong. But one day Kiri suddenly disappears. Ayla doesn't want to talk about it, but she knows her best friend will be home for their 11th birthday. Meanwhile, an old-fashioned telephone appears in her tree, and Ayla assumes it is magical. Before long, friends and strangers start to visit the tree to use the telephone and talk to loved ones who have died. As Kiri's birthday draws nearer, Ayla starts to accept the reality of their disappearance and it becomes clear that Kiri won't be coming back.
This emotional story handles death and grief in a respectful and believable way for a 10-year-old girl. Adult readers will probably see through Kiri's disappearance, but kids will be slower to understand what is going on. Though Ayla is essentially an unreliable narrator, readers who have experienced loss of their own will empathize with her grief and her denial. Written like a journal, the first-person narrative is mostly told in short, half-page prose poems. Some of the most classic children's novels focus on similar themes, so do not be surprised by end-of-year buzz this book will certainly receive. Smart, heartbreaking, but hopeful as well.
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