Telephone of the Tree by Alison McGhee (review)

Reviewed by: Telephone of the Tree by Alison McGhee Cassidy Russell McGhee, Alison Telephone of the Tree. Rocky Pond, 2024 208p Trade ed. ISBN 9780593698457 17. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593698464 10. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R* Gr. 5-7 When Ayla and Kiri were born elven 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 ("If you think / lalala or nonono / LOUD / inside your own mind. . . / LALALA / it drowns out everything") and 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. The reveal that the phone was placed by Ayla's grandpa who used it to "call" his wife after she passed is just one beautiful details in a story that focuses on generational healing rather than generational trauma. Ayla's parents and grandfather model unmitigated support as she processes the loss of her best friend, making their desire to listen clear without forcing her to be okay before she's ready. While more mature readers may quickly realize that Kiri has died, the novel's hybrid of lyrically written plot fragments and stream of consciousness serve to poetically reveal the facts as Ayla becomes ready to process them. An author's note details how the story was inspired by a phone booth built in Japan after the 2011 tsunami and earthquake that was used by grieving survivors to call their lost loved ones. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois