Where the Lockwood Grows

June 15, 2023
A company-town dystopia laced with a climate change message. Set in an unspecified future time, this novel follows 12-year-old Erie, who was named after one of the two Great Lakes that hasn't dried up yet; her 16-year-old sister, Hurona, was named after the other. Erie works in the branches of the lockwood trees that surround her town of Prine. The fireproof, human-invented lockwood, planted after the devastating Arborklept fire, grows so quickly that each morning, Prine's younger kids cut away top branches to let the sun in and harvest the pods the tree produces. Each week, FOLROY company trucks from the wealthy city of Petrichor pick up the pods and pulp, paying the townspeople a pittance. The grim lives of Prine's residents are well described, but readers will wonder why Erie dreads growing too big to work in the tree; it's not explained why that's preferable to being safer on the ground, where Hurona works. After Hurona and Erie discover something sinister about the lockwood, they smuggle themselves to Petrichor to find the scientist who developed it. At least that's Erie's intent; the one surprising plot twist is what Hurona's actual mission is. Erie's thoughts often interrupt the narrative flow with strained metaphoric connections and ultimately come across as telling readers rather than letting them figure things out for themselves. Erie and Hurona are White, and Hurona is queer; the supporting cast is diverse in race and sexuality. Earnest but heavy-handed. (Dystopian. 12-14)

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July 3, 2023
Devastating blazes once threatened to destroy the city of Prine, until scientist Dr. Lunata Elemneiri engineered a powerful, fireproof plant called lockwood. Now, dense lockwood shrouds Prine in darkness. To make ends meet, children small enough to maneuver its branches—like 12-year old Erie—are forced to prune the plant to filter sunlight as well as sell lockwood clippings to FOLROY, a company that owns most of the products in Prine. At home, Erie grows distant from her older sister Hurona, who has outgrown working in the lockwood, and worries about her emotionally exhausted inventor mother, who’s grieving the deaths of Erie’s aunt and father. After a fight between Erie and Hurona leads to shocking revelations about their town, the sisters leave together for Petrichor, a nearby city where they hope to confront Dr. Elemneiri regarding the rumored conspiracy. As they embark on their trek, Erie and Hurona must relearn how to open up to each other, especially as their investigation dredges up old family secrets. Erie’s hopeful stream-of-consciousness narrative and the protagonists’ tumultuous sisterhood add an emotionally grounded through line to this jam-packed, climate-oriented allegory by Cole (Dear Medusa), which acutely highlights the impact of capitalism and its tendency to prioritize profits over people. Ages 8–12. Agent: Patrice Caldwell, New Leaf Literary.

August 1, 2023
Grades 5-7 In Cole's middle-grade climate dystopian, 12-year-old Erie lives in a dark city shrouded by lockwood trees. Every morning, each kid small enough to fit climbs and cuts the lockwood so that their secluded town can catch a brief glimpse of sunlight before the lockwood grows again overnight. The citizens too big to climb--like Hurona, Erie's older sister--work on the ground harvesting mysterious pods for an all-powerful corporation. Years ago, when wildfires raged, scientists created the lockwood, a fire-resistant plant, as a solution; now, it completely dominates the lives of the townspeople of Prine by necessity. But one night, while on an unplanned climb, Erie discovers a dangerous secret about the lockwood that threatens everything she's ever known. Erie and Hurona secretly leave Prine, setting off in search of the scientist who invented the lockwood, in hopes of finding answers and liberating their town. On their journey into the wider world, they make unexpected discoveries about life outside Prine and about their own family. Readers who enjoy books about science and the environment will love this.

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