Tate, Nikki. Deep Roots: How Trees Sustain Our Planet.

Tate, Nikki.  Deep Roots: How Trees Sustain Our Planet.     Orca  2016  48p  $19.95  ISBN 978-1-4598-0582-8  pre K-elem   Nonfiction  VG-BNe     

This is a very well-organized book about how trees keep “our world healthy from the ground up,” written from a very personal perspective and addressing the importance of trees on the quality of the global environment. The text is easily understood, with a glossary at the back of the book. Throughout the book, full-color photos and graphics are placed adjacent to related text. There is a nice variety of sidebars throughout the book. In sidebars entitled “I Love (heart icon) Trees,” the author relates specific tree stories from her life; for example, there is one on page 22 where she talks about her garden and a eucalyptus tree. Another sidebar titled “Wood Works” discusses uses for wood and ways it can be recycled; for example, on page 27 there is one that mentions up-cycling wood cabinets. “Forest Facts” and “Try This!” are two other interesting types of sidebars found throughout the book.

This is a delightful book that makes trees and their importance in the life cycle of our planet very accessible and enjoyable for young readers. 

Trees                                                             --Lynn Fisher

Tate, Nikki. Fallout.

Tate, Nikki.  Fallout.    

 Orca  2011  168p  9.95  978-1-55469-272-9 

 ms/hs VG-BN Realistic Fiction  

     Tara has carried the guilt of not answering her sister Hannah’s call on the day that she committed suicide a year ago. Tara works through her myriad of emotions by writing poetry to compete in poetry slams.                  

     Tara is out and having a good time with her boyfriend David, when she chooses not to answer her sister’s call. This is the last call her sister, Hannah makes before committing suicide. Tara deals with her conflicting emotions and lack of supportive parents by competing in poetry slams with her close friends, Ebony and Maddy.
     Tara tells her story and explains the events of Hannah’s life leading up to her suicide through poems she has created to compete in poetry slams. Through the competitions, other poets are eliminated sending Tara on her way in the National Poetry Slam, along with her new friend Rosie. Rosie’s poems narrate her own experiences and Tara finds a unique connection with Rosie.
 Nikki Tate has creatively written a novel that uses the beauty of poetry to tell a sad but familiar story. Emotions surrounding a suicide are complex and confusing. This book explores the feelings of a close one left behind that is bearing the guilt and grief associated with the catastrophic event. Through the author’s use of poetry and the short narration surrounding it, these intrapersonal emotions are examined. Additionally, the main character finds comfort interpersonally as well, as she meets a new friend that reveals her own similar conflicts through her own poetry creating a poignant ending.
                  Realistic fiction Virginia McGarvey