The Strange Wonders of Roots

Perfect for fans of Operation Redwood comes Evan Griffith’s heartfelt and poignant sophomore middle grade contemporary novel about a girl who knows better than to get attached to people and places and yet learns to lay down her own roots as she’s drawn into a fight for a grove of trees in danger of being torn down.



Holly Foster knows that nothing lasts—not hometowns, not schools, and certainly not her dad’s girlfriends. Even visits to her mom and stepdad are fleeting. Caring is dangerous, and it’s safer to keep herself uninvolved. So when she’s sent to spend part of the summer with her uncle Vincent, she knows better than to get attached to anyone or anything in his small Vermont town.



But when she arrives, she’s immediately drawn in by the drama that’s split the town of Arden in two: the local plastic factory is trying to tear down a central tree grove to build a visitor’s center and museum. Holly shocks herself by stepping into the fight to protect the trees, thus taking on one of the most powerful families in the area. But, as she learns more about Arden and its history, she finds that this is one fight that she doesn’t want to back down from.



With a potential new friend by her side, Holly is determined to protect the one place she thinks she could finally belong, the one place where she might actually want to put down roots. But, when the chips are down, will she be able to convince the other townspeople that the trees deserve to stay?