a middle grade novel for ages 9-13

I Speak for the Trees

by julia edwards

If the trees are AT war,

then so am I

“When you know that trees

experience pain

and have memories
and that tree parents

live together with their children,
then you can no longer

just chop them down...”

—Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees

I Speak for the Trees

a magical adventure
about a girl who sits in a tree
to stand up against climate change

13-year-old Phoenix Reising is embarrassed by her name, her hippie mom, and her eco-depressed sister. It doesn’t help that her tree-scientist dad disappeared without a trace nine months ago.

But things get a whole lot weirder when she finally “finds” him. She can't see him or touch him, but she “hears” him through the tree roots: “The trees are getting angry...”

Enter: the Paving King of Pitts, who shows up with a chainsaw and a plan to turn their forest into an amusement park. The lives of every tree—and her father—are on the line. She can't speak for them yet, but she knows one thing for certain: If the trees are at war, then so is she.

“My name is Phoenix Reising.

I’m thirteen years old

and I live in Pitts, Massachusetts.

They are trying to cut down

this five-hundred-year-old white pine

so they can build

an amusement park in the forest.

I’m sitting in the tree

and I’m not getting down

until they stop.

Please send help!”

“If the trees are at war, then
so am I.”

Fifi (Phoenix) Reising

An A+ overachieving 8th grader who plans to walk her tasseled loafers away from this hick town as fast as humanly possible...until she hears what the trees have to say.

“How can I sit in class while the planet is dying?”

Hope Rainbow Reising

The 16-year-old activist can usually be found at town hall protesting for the climate all by herself...and singing her original song, “The Giving Tree is Gonna Get You.”

“Where there's a will, there's a way!”

Joan Reising (A.K.A.
The Mushroom Mom)

Eternal optimist, wearer of rainbow muumuus, and loud-mouth Mama Bear, she makes Fifi’s desire to “be normal” an impossibility.

“Protect
those who cannot protect themselves.”

Walt Reising

Tree scientist and activist…he dives deep into his research. Perhaps too deep? He's been missing 183 days...until Fifi hears something mysterious in the tree roots.

“Get that
dirty tree hugger out of my tree!”

Donny Drexler

Ruining planet Earth one parking lot at a time, The Paving King wants to build an amusement park on Fifi’s land. After they cut down all the trees, it’ll be perfect!

Lonely Man Leaning against an urban wall.jpg

“Whadda
you lookin' at?”

Junior

The swaggering son of the Paving King mocks and bullies and wears a “Climate Change is a Hoax” T-shirt to the Earth Day assembly. He’s The Worst of the Worst. Or is he?

Huge tree with damaged bark. The tree was scorched by a lightning strike..jpg

“We are only as strong as
the weakest
tree.”

The Lightning Tree

(Pinus strobus)

An ancient white pine that suffered a lightning strike is under attack...by men with chainsaws. Will she survive the war?

The famous Angel Oak, outside of Charleston, South Carolina. The tree is at least 400 year

“It's time
to teach
the two-legs
a lesson.”

Fangorn (Quercus rubra)

The Mother Tree of the oak grove and Hope’s home away from home is known for giving nasty splinters. But she wouldn’t be a part of the revolution madness. Would she?

“I want you to panic.

I want you to feel

the fear I feel every day.

And then I want you to act…

I want you to act

as if our house is on fire.

Because it is.”

—Greta Thunberg, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference

“Had I really made those roots move…

with my mind?

How was that even possible?

And why had the Wood Wide Web listened to me?

I felt something powerful coursing through me.

It was the pulse of the planet.

Thrumming.

From my fingers to my toes.

And I wondered:

If I could make the roots do what I wanted,

what else could I do?

Could I speak Tree?

Could I…make things grow?”

–Phoenix Reising, Age 13

“I speak for the trees,

for the trees have no tongues.”

—Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

When the tree revolution comes...

what side will you be on?

FOR MANUSCRIPT, CONTACT THE AUTHOR

I Speak for the Trees

by julia edwards

I Speak for the Trees

a magical adventure about a girl who sits in a tree to stand up against climate change

“If the trees are at war, then so am I.”

“How can I sit in class while the planet is dying?”

“Where there's a will, there's a way!”

“Protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

“Get that dirty tree hugger out of my tree!”

“Whadda you lookin' at?”

“We are only as strong as the weakest tree.”

“It's time to teach the two-legs a lesson.”

a magical adventure
about a girl who sits in a tree
to stand up against climate change

“If the trees are at war, then
so am I.”

“Protect
those who cannot protect themselves.”

“Get that
dirty tree hugger out of my tree!”

“Whadda
you lookin' at?”

“We are only as strong as
the weakest
tree.”

“It's time
to teach
the two-legs
a lesson.”