“It was now or never. All he had in his mind was blind faith. If the post was rotten, then…snap! Ark would plummet down: a wingless dead bird.”
Ark holds the lowest of jobs as a plumber’s apprentice, yet somehow he must summon the courage to save the tree top kingdom of Arborium. Along the way, the fourteen year old discovers who his friends are and what his family can do. The technologically advanced kingdom of Maw wants the natural resources of Arborium but they can’t invade because of a poisonous gas emitted by the trees that harms all but the natives.
As Ark and his friend Mucum navigate the layers of the tree from tree-top to root system, they learn what wondrous resources their kingdom has, and how to unite those resources to defeat the enemy. The premise is a bit confusing: are they miniature people living in the trees? Or average-sized people living in giant trees? Once the reader overcomes that, the action moves briskly along. Names may be difficult to pronounce. 368 pages Ages 10-13 978-0545305501
Recommended by: Alice Cyphers, Librarian, Pennsylvania USA
