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kindredbooks's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I received a copy of Forever Birchwood by Danielle Daniel from HarperCollins Canada in exchange for an honest review.
Danielle Daniel is an amazing picture book author and illustrator so I was so excited to hear that she had written a middle grade novel. Forever Birchwood is her middle grade debut and it met all my expectations and more.
There is just so much going on to this middle grade novel - family, grief, connecting to Indigenous roots, nature, preservation and conservation of nature, friendship - and all of it is integrated into a wonderful complex story about growing up and standing up for what one believes and wants to protect. Wolf is a young girl who is dealing with tensions within her family - she loves spending time with her grandmother, she has more trouble bonding with her mother due to their different stances on their Indigenous roots, she is grieving the loss of her grandfather who was a father figure in her life. There is a beautiful and touching layer of this three generational family story running through this entire novel.
Aside from the family tensions, Wolf is also dealing with changes happening within her friendship group. She has three best friends and as their last year in elementary school ends and summer begins, the friends find themselves at odds with one another. I think that these changes are so reflective of friendships at that point in one's life as everyone is growing up and still trying to figure things out. But the beautiful thing that continues to tie them together is the place they've created and loved in the mountains - Birchwood. When Birchwood is in danger, Wolf and her friends need to figure out what it means - that perhaps it is in working together as they have always done that they will overcome the obstacles in their way.
A huge aspect of the story that I loved was the importance of protecting nature and wildlife. As Wolf and her friends try to find ways to protect Birchwood, they try to figure out what adults in their life they can trust and turn to. It was quite heartbreaking at one point in the story when they reach out to a teacher who has always emphasized protecting nature, only to find out that the teacher has something to gain that contradicts what she had taught them. But the story is also uplifting as it shows that there are still people within the community who will do the right thing and stand by their convictions when the time came. It goes to show that you can never really know someone until the time for action calls for them to take a stand.
I just loved everything about this coming-of-age middle grade novel set in a small town in Canada. It was uplifting and insightful. Wolf is a young girl that you cannot help but root for as she comes into her own individuality and person, fighting to protect nature and the people she loves in her life. What a fantastic debut by Danielle Daniel - I look forward to reading more middle grade novels written by her.
Danielle Daniel is an amazing picture book author and illustrator so I was so excited to hear that she had written a middle grade novel. Forever Birchwood is her middle grade debut and it met all my expectations and more.
There is just so much going on to this middle grade novel - family, grief, connecting to Indigenous roots, nature, preservation and conservation of nature, friendship - and all of it is integrated into a wonderful complex story about growing up and standing up for what one believes and wants to protect. Wolf is a young girl who is dealing with tensions within her family - she loves spending time with her grandmother, she has more trouble bonding with her mother due to their different stances on their Indigenous roots, she is grieving the loss of her grandfather who was a father figure in her life. There is a beautiful and touching layer of this three generational family story running through this entire novel.
Aside from the family tensions, Wolf is also dealing with changes happening within her friendship group. She has three best friends and as their last year in elementary school ends and summer begins, the friends find themselves at odds with one another. I think that these changes are so reflective of friendships at that point in one's life as everyone is growing up and still trying to figure things out. But the beautiful thing that continues to tie them together is the place they've created and loved in the mountains - Birchwood. When Birchwood is in danger, Wolf and her friends need to figure out what it means - that perhaps it is in working together as they have always done that they will overcome the obstacles in their way.
A huge aspect of the story that I loved was the importance of protecting nature and wildlife. As Wolf and her friends try to find ways to protect Birchwood, they try to figure out what adults in their life they can trust and turn to. It was quite heartbreaking at one point in the story when they reach out to a teacher who has always emphasized protecting nature, only to find out that the teacher has something to gain that contradicts what she had taught them. But the story is also uplifting as it shows that there are still people within the community who will do the right thing and stand by their convictions when the time came. It goes to show that you can never really know someone until the time for action calls for them to take a stand.
I just loved everything about this coming-of-age middle grade novel set in a small town in Canada. It was uplifting and insightful. Wolf is a young girl that you cannot help but root for as she comes into her own individuality and person, fighting to protect nature and the people she loves in her life. What a fantastic debut by Danielle Daniel - I look forward to reading more middle grade novels written by her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Cancer, Death of parent, and Death
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