The Tree-Sitter by Suzanne Matson

From the Publisher

Julie Prince is a top college student, destined for conventional success. But then she falls in love with Neil, a radical graduate student, and abandons her privileged East Coast life to tree-sit in the forests of Oregon. At first it is a romantic field trip; soon, though, Julie finds herself increasingly moved by the magnificence of the endangered forest and, like Neil, invested in its protection. Eventually pulled into a militant act of sabotage, Julie is forced to reassess her deepest held loyalties and beliefs.

Publishers Weekly

At the start of Matson's third novel (after A Trick of Nature), Julie Prince faces the end of her junior year at Wellesley and the expectations of her highly accomplished, somewhat overbearing mother, who pushes her to take on an internship, a trip to France or perhaps some resume-building volunteer work. But Julie has fallen in love-both with Neil, an ecological activist who passionately espouses saving forests, and with his cause. Leaving her tidy life behind, she heads to the Oregon forests to take up her position in the branches of an old-growth Douglas fir. At first, she's convinced she's made the right decision: her meditative life in the trees gives her the peace that her hectic life has lacked, and her fiery affair with Neil blossoms. But when the tree-sitters start moving toward more violent means, and their peaceful existence is torn by tragedy, she wonders what, exactly, she's gotten herself into-and whether her own life is an even exchange for the trees'. Thoughtfully told, this story of the all-encompassing blaze of first love and an uneasy eco-activism is surprising and honest. (Feb.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Eileen Kuhl - VOYA

This elegantly written love story is set against a background of ecoterrorism and the ongoing destruction of old forests in Northwest United States. Julie is a successful, affluent college student who has traditionally acquiesced to her mother's rigid demands. She meets Neil, a radical graduate student at a college party and becomes interested in his environmental cause of protesting deforestation, agreeing to accompany him to Oregon and join the peaceable protests. Julie is captivated by the beauty of the old forests and the devotion of the group of protestors. She and Neil spend a week at the top of a Douglas fir tree, tree-sitting as a method of delaying the lumber companies from cutting the old trees long enough for a court order to prohibit it. The activists also commit minor sabotage on the lumber company's machinery. Neil eventually is not satisfied with the inconsequential protests, and he begins plotting other methods to disrupt and impede the lumber company. Julie begins working for the company and using inside documentation to interfere with the cutting. As Neil becomes more militant and unreasonable, Julie must decide if the wrongs will justify the outcome and if being with Neil is worth jeopardizing her future. The escalating drama and ultimate tragedy create a suspenseful climax. Julie's rebellion and passionate love will resonate with older teens and adults. Matson's lyrical writing will hold interest for anyone concerned about the environment, and the book's images will linger in readers' minds as they contemplate the exploitation of nature and long-lasting damage produced by humans. VOYA CODES: 4Q 2P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; For the YAwith a special interest in the subject; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult-marketed book recommended for Young Adults). 2006, Norton, 246p., Ages 15 to Adult.

KLIATT

Julie Prince is a well-heeled child of a single mother who is attending Wellesley College when she meets Neil, a doctorate student. Inspired by his dedication to saving the old growth trees of Oregon, she follows him across the country to join a band of tree-sitters who are fighting the logging companies by camping in trees and performing acts of sabotage on the loggers' equipment. While Julie, now called Emerald, loves the trees and admires the intensity of some of the people, she is uneasy about the violence. When she and Neil leave to stay in Eugene, she gets a job at a small lumber company for a month and gets to know the employers and employees and again is torn by her hatred of some of the things the company is doing and her affinity for the people. When Neil and a friend concoct a scheme to further their message against agents of destruction, in this case, SUVs, Julie becomes involved in a way that really disturbs her. The story is well written and brings the conflict between ideology and idealism to the forefront. There is some graphic language and some love scenes, making it inappropriate for younger YAs, but the themes in the story will cause older students to really think.

Library Journal

Novelist and poet Matson's fourth novel (after Hunger Moon) is an atmospheric rendering of a young woman's enlightenment about the world beyond her privileged upbringing. Julie Prince, na ve and barely 21, finds MIT graduate student Neil so appealingly different that she accompanies him to Oregon as he seeks to join a group of environmental activists who sometimes use radical tactics. Because Julie's mother, her only parent and a successful lawyer, disapproves, Julie also sees this trek to the Northwest as a way to disentangle herself from her mother's ever-present influence. As the summer progresses, Julie and Neil's relationship deepens, as does their involvement in the environmental movement, with Julie proving herself a good soldier by infiltrating a logging company that the group despises. Matson effectively evokes the college-town milieu, with its blend of academia and social activism. Through first-person narrative, she generates emotional resonance and successfully builds suspense in her depiction of risky activist tactics. The result is an engrossing work recommended for all public and academic fiction collections.-Maureen Neville, Trenton P.L., NJ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Poet and novelist Matson (A Trick of Nature, 2000, etc.) explores the boundaries between activism and terrorism through the eyes of a privileged college student in the throes of first love. The pampered, protected daughter of an aristocratic, politely liberal Boston lawyer-a single mother inseminated by a sperm-donor-Julie is a naive Wellesley College sophomore when she falls madly in love with Neil, a Ph.D. candidate studying deforestation. In her first act of overt rebellion, Julie ignores her mother's misgivings and accompanies Neil to Oregon for the summer to work with activists who are trying to thwart the logging industry. Of course, unable or unwilling to escape her sense of privilege, Julie does keep her trust-fund account handy. Mainly drawn to Oregon by the possibility of sex in the trees with Neil, Julie soon finds herself among young people who take their idealism very seriously. At first intimidated, then skeptical, Julie is drawn to the romanticism of Neil's commitment. She remains besotted even as she recognizes that he is an ideologue who sees the necessity of terrorist acts for their shock value. Because she can draw, Julie is sent to the Wainwright Timber Company to sketch the plant's layout. As a ruse, she applies for a job with the company and ends up working there for a month. While spying and stealing company documents for the activists, she gets to know and like her fellow Wainwright employees, even Mr. Wainwright himself. Her ambivalence and burgeoning skepticism deepen when the usually reserved Neil finally declares his love for her. After a bomb he's planted at an SUV dealership injures a salesman, Julie finally bales out of the movement and returns to schoolwithout Neil. Two years later, when she reads that Wainwright Timber has been bombed, she feels guilt and fear. The provocative issues raised sometimes get lost in the predictability of the romance and ho-hum characters.

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