• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 8
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Has a protest to save a tree gone too far?

Callie's mother has chained herself to the neighbor's tree and is living inside the treehouse. She refuses to come down until the neighbor, Mr. Wilson, agrees to leave the tree standing. Soon reporters arrive, followed by an activist group called the Singing Grannies and a gang of bikers—each group adding to the chaos. Callie doesn't want to deal with any of them but she needs to figure out how to get her mother to come down from the tree so that her life can return to normal.

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read! The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Ann is a long time Williams Lake, British Columbia resident who has taught both in elementary schools and at the college level. She is the author of seven novels for young readers, most of them set in Barkerville during the gold rush. Her first book, Your Time, My Time was published twenty-two years ago and has been in print continuously since then. As well, Ann is the author of a book of poetry and the editor of three collections of short stories for young people. She also writes for adult readers, and her work has appeared in magazines and anthologies around the world. In Canada her work has been published in Canadian Living, Arts Forum (Ontario) and elsewhere, as well as being heard on CBC radio. Ann serves on the executive of several professional writers' organizations, both in British Columbia and Canada-wide.

Her books have been nominated for major Canadian book prizes and all of them have been selected as "Our Choice" titles by the Canadian Children's Book Centre. Ann is a popular workshop presenter at conferences for writers (Grades 5 to Adult) and is in demand as a speaker, both in schools and at literary festivals. She loves traveling, and is willing to gear her presentations to the needs and requests of a particular school or classroom. Her sessions are fast paced and entertaining, as well as informative. As one teacher commented after Ann had visited her school "She made history come alive."

More about Ann can be found at the CWILL BC website, http://www.cwill.bc.ca/public/search/member_detail/62.

Ann Walsh's profile page

• Short-listed, Chocolate Lily Book Awards - Chapter Books / Early Novels
• Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Our Choice

"This humourous and inventive story is full of wit."

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"The storyline is fast-paced and interesting while being written at a readability level which will appeal to those who struggle with reading."

Resource Links

"By dealing with issues such as activism, environmentalism and conflict resolution, Ann Walsh has crafted a thoughtful novel that will appeal to readers both younger and older than its intended age group."

Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Canadian Children’s Book News

"An amusing and engaging novel...Recommended."

Canadian Book Review Annual