Shivaun Plozza, Meet Me at the Moon Tree, University of Queensland Press, July 2023, 244 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9780702266171
If you don’t know what a moon tree is (and I didn’t until I read this book) it’s a tree grown from a seed taken to the moon on the Apollo 14 space mission. Command module pilot Stuart Roosa took about 500 seeds with him that were then planted on return. About 420 seedlings germinated and were then dispersed around the US and gifted to other countries. But no register was kept of where they were planted.
Ten-year-old Carina Sugden’s Dad loved trees and imparted this love to her. He vowed that they would find a moon tree together but now he is dead from leukaemia. Carina’s Mum has moved the family to a tree-change fixer-upper cottage she and her husband bought before he died in a place fittingly called Forrest. Together with Carina’s older brother Jack and her Dad’s father called Gramps, they are all coping with their grief and new beginnings in their own way.
Carina is determined to find a moon tree to honour a promise to her Dad. She goes exploring and finds a magical-looking tree which may or may not be one. She starts leaving letters to her Dad in the tree and is astonished to receive replies. She also becomes familiar with a local cockatoo and starts to make friends. But every member of the family is coping with their emotions in different ways and sometimes they spill over.
This lovely book is not the slightest bit morbid. It portrays a family wrestling with huge changes in their lives and trying to love and support each other while at the same time being angry and sad. The characterisation is excellent with Carina and her family being portrayed realistically and sympathetically. The slight touch of magic is not intrusive, and the reader will learn a lot about trees.
Reviewed by Lynne Babbage
