This Girl Climbs Trees

by Ellen Plotkin Mulholland

Overview

What is a new teen to do when her father chops down her first best friend, a motherly maple that has guarded her window since birth? Eliza Mills frets over her beloved tree where she climbed to the very top, sat and thought and wondered. Who is left to listen to her teen worries? Who can help her cope? What's up there, out there? If there is a god, why has he - or she - taken away what and who she loves? Perhaps some help lies inside a mysterious box left behind by her dying grandfather. Convinced he is trying to send her one final message, she believes this box remains her last hope. What secrets will its contents reveal?Eliza Mills takes the reader on a journey of life and death gently - and humorously - depositing us at the door of self-discovery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780989745512
Publisher:	Logos Publishing House
Publication date:	09/19/2013
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	5.24(w) x 7.99(h) x 0.52(d)
Age Range:	11 - 15 Years

About the Author

Ellen Plotkin Mulholland grew up in San Bernardino, California, in the 1970s. After earning her degree in Journalism and English Literature at the University of Southern California, she moved to London. There she wrote her first novel, bagged beans, stood in the snow for a bus, and watched the trees change colors in fall. Today she teaches academic strategies to struggling adolescents and enjoys the delightful exploits of her own kids. She is also the author of "Birds on a Wire".

Editorial Reviews

In this meandering, nonlinear coming-of-age story, 13-year-old Maclyn "Eliza" Mills reflects on what it's like to grow up in the late 1970s. The narrative skips around over the course of several years, as Eliza ruminates on the death of her grandfather, the cutting down of her favorite tree, and her friendship with Paisley Park, a socially conscious animal rights activist. Along the way, she also contemplates her future, not quite ready to fall in love or figure out what she wants to be when she grows up. As a semi-autobiographical narrative with literary leanings, it's perfectly adequate. As a work of fiction, however, it lacks direction, a cohesive story, or a sense of momentum. The narrative voice is inconsistent, vacillating between believable ("How's a girl like me to grow roots when the soil of life is so crumbly?") and too mature ("Things change every moment, like a fallen leaf traveling down a mountain stream, pitched over stones, diverted into rivulets, direction unknown"). An interesting experiment in storytelling that seems unlikely to capture its audience's attention. Ages: 11–up.

Publishers Weekly