"In this luminous story full of mystery and magic, Elana K. Arnold weaves a shimmering tapestry about the lovely and surprising ways we’re connected to each other. Heart-healing, hopeful, and wonderfully inventive, this beautiful novel by a master storyteller is not to be missed." — Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal-winning author of The One and Only Ivan
"Told through alternating perspectives that offer clearly rendered details, this compassionate novel gives a unique twist to familiar situations—feeling lonely, adjusting to new environments, forging new bonds—while inviting readers to open their imaginations to all sorts of wonderful possibilities." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The author enriches her sparely told story with hints of magic, song lyrics, good choices that key sudden sea changes in several relationships, and the small background details that make settings and backstories seem real. A low-key marvel rich in surprises, small fuzzy creatures, and friendships old and new." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Arnold depicts the kids’ emotions, relationships, and thought processes with unusual clarity and nuance. Middle grade readers, particularly those with a taste for magical realism, will find plenty to enjoy in this quirky, original novel." — Booklist
"Arnold combines the weird with the warm in this domestic fantasy, bringing realism to the kids’ struggles with both family and identity even as they deal with some very unusual circumstances." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Arnold combines the weird with the warm in this domestic fantasy, bringing realism to the kids’ struggles with both family and identity even as they deal with some very unusual circumstances."
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Arnold depicts the kids’ emotions, relationships, and thought processes with unusual clarity and nuance. Middle grade readers, particularly those with a taste for magical realism, will find plenty to enjoy in this quirky, original novel."
"Arnold depicts the kids’ emotions, relationships, and thought processes with unusual clarity and nuance. Middle grade readers, particularly those with a taste for magical realism, will find plenty to enjoy in this quirky, original novel."
"Arnold combines the weird with the warm in this domestic fantasy, bringing realism to the kids’ struggles with both family and identity even as they deal with some very unusual circumstances."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Arnold combines the weird with the warm in this domestic fantasy, bringing realism to the kids’ struggles with both family and identity even as they deal with some very unusual circumstances."
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
★ 02/08/2021
In an enticing story about “opossums and teacups and kittens and doors. Fathers and sweaters and yarn balls and more,” Arnold (Starla Jean ) centers a series of coincidences that lead to magic and change. Eleven-year-old Alder resents the new next-door neighbors, who have cut down the giant, beloved walnut tree that shaded his and his widowed mother’s “small but neat” home. As a result, Alder, a knitter who recently lost his best friend to cross-country club, wants nothing to do with new neighbor, Oak, who’s herself angry about moving from San Francisco to L.A. Nevertheless, they’re drawn together time and again—the classmates even inadvertently adopt sibling kittens, who lead them to a mysterious house on the site of the downed tree, one that is occupied by a living version of Arnold’s most beloved companion, a taxidermied possum named Mort. Told through alternating perspectives that offer clearly rendered details, this compassionate novel gives a unique twist to familiar situations—feeling lonely, adjusting to new environments, forging new bonds—while inviting readers to open their imaginations to all sorts of wonderful possibilities. Ages 8–12. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Mar.)
"In this luminous story full of mystery and magic, Elana K. Arnold weaves a shimmering tapestry about the lovely and surprising ways we’re connected to each other. Heart-healing, hopeful, and wonderfully inventive, this beautiful novel by a master storyteller is not to be missed."
03/01/2021
Gr 3–7— Adler and his new neighbor, Oak, are pretty certain they are not going to be friends. Sure, they live next door to each other, are both named after trees, and are in the same sixth grade class, but Adler isn't sure he can forgive Oak after her family cuts down the big walnut tree that sat between their houses. Neither is he sure he can forgive how easily she makes friends at a new school in a new city, when his own best friend since kindergarten is acting distant and weird. But the universe seems determined to throw Adler and Oak together—well, the universe, a portal to another dimension, a couple of kittens, a school project, and a taxidermy opossum named Mort. Arnold takes on themes of friendship, family, loss, and growth in this novel. Adler and Oak, both white, are well-rounded characters with flaws, interests, and a realistic range of emotions. Oak, for example, hates that she was not consulted about her family's move but also understands what a great opportunity it presented her mom. She misses San Francisco and her friends but starts to make new friends and feel more at home in L.A. Adler slowly begins to let his interests be known to someone other than his closest friend and finds new friends along the way. There are a lot of coincidences that may not hold up if looked at too closely, but readers won't want to pick them apart. VERDICT Arnold creates a world that is both completely normal and wonderfully magical, and readers will want to be a part of it. Recommended.—Heather Webb, Worthington Libs., OH
Narrator Ramon de Ocampo reveals the inner lives of two “tree children,” Alder and Oak. The sixth graders become neighbors to each other and to a mysterious house that is frequented by Mort, an oversized taxidermied opossum that has come back to life. Both children are emotionally awkward and unhappy, and de Ocampo makes their concerns and sensitivities clear in a voice differentiated from his straightforward narration. He makes it just as clear how the two children find commonality in the kittens they adopt from the same litter. This nurtures a friendship that grows as they explore their connections and the mysteries of traveling to another dimension. The story’s plot is filled with fantastical twists and coincidences that may not work for every listener. S.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Narrator Ramon de Ocampo reveals the inner lives of two “tree children,” Alder and Oak. The sixth graders become neighbors to each other and to a mysterious house that is frequented by Mort, an oversized taxidermied opossum that has come back to life. Both children are emotionally awkward and unhappy, and de Ocampo makes their concerns and sensitivities clear in a voice differentiated from his straightforward narration. He makes it just as clear how the two children find commonality in the kittens they adopt from the same litter. This nurtures a friendship that grows as they explore their connections and the mysteries of traveling to another dimension. The story’s plot is filled with fantastical twists and coincidences that may not work for every listener. S.W. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
★ 2020-12-15 The arrival of new neighbors kicks off strange events and life-changing experiences for two families.
With an inward focus reminiscent of the novels of Kevin Henkes, Arnold sets shy, 11-year-old Alder Madigan, living with his mom at 15 Rollingwood Dr., against outgoing Oak Carson, who has moved next door to No. 11 with her mom while her dad stays behind in San Francisco to tie up loose ends. Relations get off to a rocky start after Oak’s mother arbitrarily has the huge old tree between the houses cut down. Distress at the tree’s loss is compounded by Alder’s erstwhile best friend’s hanging out with a popular kid, leading to hostile initial encounters with Oak. Still, Alder and his new neighbor are drawn together by a series of mystifying experiences—including finding out that it’s not always true that there’s no No. 13 on their block and discovering that they’ve independently adopted sibling kittens. Saving one last, wonderful coincidence for the climactic arrival of Oak’s father, the author enriches her sparely told story with other hints of magic, song lyrics, good choices that key sudden sea changes in several relationships, and the small background details that make settings and backstories seem real. Readers will find Alder’s conclusion that everything is connected, and also complicated, well taken. The cast presents as White.
A low-key marvel rich in surprises, small fuzzy creatures, and friendships old and new. (Fiction. 10-13)