FINISHED:
de Fombelle, Timothee. (2009/10). Toby and the secrets of the Tree. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.

[After spending two years living amongst the Grass People, whom the tree inhabitants believe to be primitive savages, Toby Lolness returns to the lower branches believing that his parents are dead (though they have actually been imprisoned and are attempting to tunnel out an escape route) and finds that others are being enslaved to dig an enormous crater to the center of the tree. In addition, Toby’s love, Elisha, has been locked in an egg by Toby’s childhood best friend, Leo Blue, who has now taken control of the tree and intends to marry Elisha. Though smart, densely written, and rich in character-drawing, this concluding volume in the series gets bogged down with the introduction of a number of new characters and subplots which only serve to take the focus off Toby too often and for far too long. Further, the Leo Blue character wasn’t developed enough in the first book to make the war between the friends have much power and impact. However, the strong ecological and ennvironmental message shines here with Toby’s father, Sim, finally getting people to hear his message that the tree is a living being (“The Tree is fighting back! The Tree is defending itself against us!”). All-in-all, a beautifully written series that will have limited appeal for those kids with a taste for solid, dense fantasy a la Steve Augarde’s The Various (David Fickling, 2004).]

STARTED:Napoli, Donna Jo. (2010). The wager. New York: Henry Holt.

[Reading for ACL.]

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