Tree Girl: A Novel
Written by Ben Mikaelsen
Narrated by Amber Sealey
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults
Based on a true story, this novel tells the heartwrenching story of a girl in the midst of civil war in Guatemala.
In her remote Guatemalan village, 14-year-old Gabriela is known as Tree Girl for her habit of fleeing to the forest and climbing high to escape the world. When guerrilla warfare comes to her area, her life is changed forever. Over dangerous miles and months of hunger and thirst, Gabriela's search for her sister Alicia and for a safe haven becomes a search for self.
Ben Mikaelsen
Ben Mikaelsen is the winner of the International Reading Association Award and the Western Writers of America Spur Award. His novels have been nominated for and won many state reader's choice awards. These novels include Red Midnight, Rescue Josh McGuire, Sparrow Hawk Red, Stranded, Countdown, Petey, and Tree Girl. Ben's articles and photos appear in numerous magazines around the world. Ben lives near Bozeman, Montana, with his 700-pound black bear, Buffy.
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Petey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stranded Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Countdown Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rescue Josh McGuire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for Tree Girl
36 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This historical fiction disturbs and inspires.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The narrator, Ms Amber, evokes raw emotion through her voice. Thanks Ben for this heart-wrenching eye opener
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As explained in the author’s note, this book is based on a true story, although the protagonist’s name has been changed. Tree Girl tells the story of Gabriela Flores, a young girl who loves her family, going to school, and climbing trees to their highest branches. It is this last activity that christens her with the nickname “tree girl,” and it is also the one that saves her, repeatedly, when war breaks out shortly after her fifteenth birthday. Gabriela’s people, the Maya of Guatemala, are routinely massacred by the military without mercy. Climbing high into trees and hiding allows Gabriela to escape being murdered, but it also means she must remain idly by while watching horrific scenes take place below her. As such, this book is rather traumatic to read, and I find that the writing style does not help. There is nothing literary to the telling of this story, just the straightforward telling of tragic events without respite. There is also little character development or historical context, the latter of which I think is sorely missed as most readers will not even know when the events of this book are taking place without that information. Overall, I think this is an important story that needed to be told, but I wish that the telling had been better executed.