TREE & SKY
An Introduction to the Secrets of Meshyah’s World
Judith Victoria
Douglas
THIS BOOK WAS GIVEN TO ME IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
Tree & Sky is a book for middle
grade children written by Judith Victoria Douglas. Although it is billed as a
collection of short stories, it reads more like a book in that there are
continuities between the three stories, or chapters. Each of the stories,
however, had been published separately at an earlier time.
As the
title indicates, the stories center around Meshyah Bluebird Garcia, a
Hispanic-American of Lakhota Sioux descent. Also at the center
with Meshyah – or, Shy, as she is called – are her two closest friends, Jasmine,
of East African descent, and Ozwald, of British descent. The three of them live
under a geodesic dome on the Antarctic continent at what has become the north
pole.
In the
first story, or Chapter, “The Tree on My
House”, Shy and her friends are 10 years old. The story explains about the
geodesic dome under which they live, as well as the Before Times. Shy and her friends make a remarkable discovery on the
patio roof of Shy’s home: a little seedling. The little seedling grew into a
big tree, a very unexpected tree under their dome.
In the
second story, “The Day the Sky Fell”, Shy and her friends are 11 years old. We
learn more about life under the geodesic dome and the immense amount of work it
takes to maintain the dome. When an emergency occurs, the dangerous and fragile
nature of the dome becomes apparent.
In the
third story, “Under a Honeycomb Sky”, Shy and her friends are 12 years old. Although
the main event in this story is Shy’s twelfth birthday party, it describes even
more about life under the geodesic dome.
For her
twelfth birthday, Shy received a five year journal. She and her friends planned
to find a way to send the journal, with their stories, into the past to warn
the people of the Before Times about
the devastating events to come. At the end of the book, we are told that Shy
and her friends will write two more stories, which will be published in a
separate book.
My favorite
story is the first, “The Tree on My House”. It reminds me of the Native American
legends written by Tomie dePaola, and the tree is truly a wonderful character.
In my
opinion, Tree & Sky is a science
fiction/environmental awareness book for children in late elementary school and
early middle school grades. The writing and dialogue sometimes feel a bit
stilted, but it is a creative and interesting story. I enjoyed reading Shy’s
stories!
RECOMMENDED
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