The Lorikeet Tree
Author: Paul Jennings
Release Date: 31 January, 2023
RRP: $19.99 (PB)
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Children’s
Synopsis:
Emily loves the bush and the native animals on her family’s reforested property, particularly the beautiful rainbow lorikeets that nest in one of the tallest trees. But then her father is diagnosed with a terminal illness, and Emily’s world enters a tailspin.
Her twin brother, Alex, refuses to accept the truth. His coping mechanism is to build elaborate additions to his treehouse in the superstitious belief that it will avert disaster – leaving Emily to deal with harsh reality on her own.
When Alex secretly adopts a feral kitten, going against everything that’s important to Emily, the siblings’ emotions reach boiling point – with potentially dangerous consequences for them all.
A moving story of family, loss and love, from one of Australia’s most beloved storytellers.
Review: Fifteen-year-old twins Emily and Alex live with their father on their forest property. When their father is diagnosed with a terminal illness, both twins come to terms with it in their own way. Alex constructs new levels to his treehouse and adopts a kitten, much to Emily’s dismay, who is concerned about the damage the kitten could wreak on the local wildlife.
The book is framed as a diary kept by Emily for a class project. This structure works quite well and gives the reader a good insight into her relationship with her father & brother, her crush on an older boy, and how she situates herself within the new household dynamics- not quite a child or an adult, but developing into a carer role within her family.
Despite its serious themes, Jennings balances the light and dark with aplomb, rendering a compassionate, unconventional portrait of two siblings out of step with each other’s grief in a time of crisis.
Recommended Age: Ages 10+
Themes: Family, loss of a parent, grief, coping with loss, sibling relationships, coming-of-age, environmentalism, conservation.
Content Warnings: Sensitive readers be warned that the book does deal with serious themes such as terminal illness, the loss of a parent, and features a couple of animal attack scenes.
Highlights: Alex’s belief that building new levels to his treehouse would prolong their father’s life was a believable and profound coping mechanism. The confrontation scene where the siblings finally come head-to-head at the treehouse was excellently written – a moving, cathartic moment for two kids at their breaking point.
Rating: ★★★½
You can purchase the book from our website here.
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