Telephone of the tree
(Book)

When Ayla and Kiri were born eleven years ago, Ayla's parents celebrated by planting a birch tree in front of their house, and Kiri's mom planted a white pine across the street. The two kids grew up inseparable and appointed themselves as the keepers of all the trees on their block, many of which were planted when someone was born or died. Now, almost eleven years later, something has happened that Ayla doesn't want to think about. Kiri is gone. Ayla refuses to look at the new small tree planted in Kiri's yard, and when an old-fashioned telephone appears in Ayla's tree, she ignores it as well. But one day a young neighbor asks if he can use the telephone to call his dead gecko, and that's how the telephone of the tree begins. Friends and strangers begin using the telephone-which is not so much magic as it is comforting-to call their lost loved ones, and slowly Ayla opens up to the idea of a life after Kiri's death.

Ages 9-12 years.,Rocky Pond Books.