Book recommendation because it’s a story I love and have been rereading recently.
Book includes:
Epic world building (tiny people in a tree, what could be better?)
Slow burn romance
Childhood sweethearts
Best friends who betray you (trust me, this is not a spoiler)
Wholesome family dynamics
Descriptions of extreme violence (but still a book for 10yrs upwards)
Issues of climate change and themes of taking care of nature
Racism is explored
Beautiful illustrations
Will make you want to live in a tree
Depictions of essentially slavery (can’t remember if they explicitly say it is, but trust me, it is)
Coming of age
Seriously, the world building is gorgeous
A large and varied cast
Time hopping narrative style, all based in Toby’s life but it does make sense when you’re reading it
Violence toward minors
Somehow this guy manages to put issues like global warming (on a tree level) and other environmental issues into this book and it makes total sense in relation to their tree world.
Mouth watering descriptions of pancakes
Kind of found family because Toby keeps getting adopted all over the place, it’s super cute
Super cute love story between Toby’s parents that’s told briefly at the beginning. She was a rich girl from the top branches and he was an eccentric scientist from the lower branches. It was a forbidden romance that defied the tree’s hierarchy.
Really though, I want to live in this tree, if you’re thinking of Epic or the Borrowers when it comes to tiny people - this is better
This book deserves a fandom. I’ve only found like two posts about it so far.
And if you read it, and you’re enjoying it, get the second book (Toby and the Secrets of the Tree) before you finish. There’s such a cliffhanger at the end. It was agony to wait for the second one to come.
Enjoy!
