The Hollow Tree by Janet Lunn

The Hollow Tree Reviews

• 
  Fiona

  One of my favourite childhood novels that I constantly kept coming back to for at least 10 years. Something about the struggles that Phoebe faced, though very unlike my own in that I wasn't trying to pass messages in a rebellion, was at the same time very similar to the internal struggles that I could empathize with like her loyalty to those she loves.
  
  “Wasn't it more important to be loyal to what was right or to those people you knew and cared about? What was the good of killing people or being hateful to them because someone you didn't know was doing something hateful to someone else you didn't know?”
  
  I loved the elements that any child would appreciate - orphan bear cub friend, a little bit of romance, a healthy amount of danger in the form of being a spy for war. It's just so gratifying to see her succeed in what she set out to do, despite the really terrible things that happen along the way!
  *I may cry each time. And by may, I mean I do.
  
• 
  Leticia

  A nicely described story of historical fiction which managed to avoid sounding like a school reading, or a YA adventure story. I enjoy this style of writing. There were a couple fanciful elements, and also and old times flavour of "well that was weird" but this seems very much aligned to my experiences researching family history. Sometimes things are weird.
  The account of the civil war was not what I expected, and did come across somewhat modern (the main character takes a neutral stance), but I learned about both sides and appreciated seeing how the information would have sounded in its historical context.
  There is some death, but nothing too stomach turning. Safe for delicate readers in general.
• 
  Joanna

  ohhhhhh goodness! I read this book five times in a row... all over a period of about four days!!!! Then a few months later i got it out again and read it twice.... then again in a few months....! Yeah, its that good...!
• 
  Missy Ivey

  AR POINTS: 9.0 READING LEVEL: 5.8
  (Ages 10-12 or higher)
  --------------------
  This novel was written by Canadian author Janet Lunn and is written about the Revolutionary War from the point of view of the Tories of Britain’s king versus the Patriots of New America. So, the story may be a little biased on the fact that it just wasn’t the rebels (Patriots) going around killing and removing families from their homes. History shows the Tories were also going around and murdering whole families where they had more control during this time. Still, I very much enjoyed this novel. The divisiveness among friends and families, so great they were willing to kill each other for their views, makes one pause as the tensions escalate here in America today. These are things I never would have thought about ever happening during the Revolutionary War.
  
  The year is 1777. Families and friends were being divided between the Loyalists, or also known as the Tories, who stood with Britain and its king’s totalitarian control, and the Rebels, the Patriots who wanted to be free from underneath king's high taxation and control. Rumors of war had just begun, and anger and violence between the two parties has escalated to an all time high.
   
  This story is about fourteen year old Phoebe Olcott who lived on one side of the Connecticut river in New Hampshire, and her cousins who lived just across the river in Vermont. Her father went off to fight with the rebels and was killed, leaving her alone. Phoebe's mom had died some years earlier of a sickness.
   
  Gideon, her cousin, went off to fight with the Tories. But, he came back as he was passing through to see the one he loved and left one last time. Gideon was found out and hung from a tree by the local rebels, the Patriots, people he knew and who were most likely neighbors and/or friends of his before the war began.
   
  Gideon's sister, Anne, blamed Phoebe and her family for Gideon's death. She ran away to the hollow tree that had been the cousin’s secret meeting place ever since they were small children. There she found a tiny package and letter written by Gideon, who had been given orders from the Loyalists to deliver a message to Fort Ticonderoga in New York in regards to providing safety for three families whose sons were away fighting the Revolutionary War with the Tories.
   
  Phoebe loved Gideon as a brother, even though he did side with Britain's, so she made a promise to herself that she would try and deliver this message for him to save the three families, who probably had little children, as Phoebe had just witnessed a close neighbor and her children being thrown out of their home by the local rebels with no regard for the children's lives.
   
  Phoebe would have to walk a 50 mile trek, she thought by following a creek, called Trout Brook, and over a mountain range to Lake Champlain. What would take a grown man who knows how to survive in the wild one week, it would take fourteen year old Phoebe three weeks. But, the creek ended pretty suddenly a little way's into the woods. Now she would have to try and find her own way through as she remembered survival skills taught her by her cousin, Gideon.
   
  This is her adventure along the way, a story I really enjoyed. Although, I felt like her surviving in the woods would have been more believable had it been a young boy, especially during that time period.
• 
  Basil

  hello, it's baby theo again! as far as i can remember, this book was about a war but also there was romance and all pint-sized theo cared about at age 10 was THE DRAMA OF IT ALL. I was talking to my sister about this book the other day, and she said she remembered the Revolutionary War part and I told her I had no memory of the war but JEM WAS IN IT AND HE WAS CUTE. We had very different priorities back then. Janet Lunn really Did That to me in grades 3-6. It was all her, Kit Pearson, and whatever very dark historical fiction I was reading about how Princess Anastasia gets brutally murdered. You know, for kids!
• 
  Jessica Gallant

  I began reading this book with my son (one chapter a week) what feels like forever ago. I offered him the choice of two historical fictions, and this is the one he chose.
  We are both familiar with Janet Lunn and The Root Cellar (one of my favorites! and my son enjoyed it too, as well as my daughter).
  The Hollow Tree I would consider the prequel to The Root Cellar as you will recognize last names like the Yardleys, Morrissays and Bothers. However it wasn't much like The Root Cellar. I think the added time travel is what gripped my children and myself in The Root Cellar.
  The Hollow Tree is much slower paced, and so full of history it's drenched (I love it!). It is definitely more description than dialogue, which is my preference and how I write as well.
  The story centers primarily on Phoebe, so one would think it's best for girls, but it's so full of adventure, I think it's great for boys and girls.
  However, my son thought it was boring (he's 14). I gasped when he told me. I proceeded to ask my daughter (16) if she would read it with me, and she murmured that it was boring as well. (Are we related?!)
  
  All that to say, maybe it depends on the reader, and not so much on the age group. I absolutely loved this book. Lunn is a fabulous Canadian author and I love her all the more for that, but I will say The Root Cellar gripped me most. (But I'm a sucker for time travel).
  Fantastic story. Will recommend and reread it... to myself!
• 
  Lianne (The Towering Pile) Lavoie

  This review is copied from my blog, The Towering Pile. It was originally published
  here.
  
  
  The Hollow Tree tells the story of Phoebe Olcott, a young girl who becomes caught up in the American Revolutionary War, with people she loves fighting and dying on both sides. Though Phoebe does not feel that she is on either side, she decides to carry out her dead cousin's mission by delivering a message to the Loyalists. To do this, she must go on a dangerous journey across the Appalachian Mountains on foot.
  
  I must admit, at the beginning I was bored. For the first couple of chapters I wasn't really sure where the story was going. But after a while, I really started to care about Phoebe. I could definitely relate to her point of view about the war. She's so far removed from it that it just seems like pointless death to her, so she feels no loyalty to either side. All that's important to her is helping those she cares about.
  
  I love the various characters that come into Phoebe's life as she travels. I especially like Bartlett, the orphaned bear cub who starts to follow Phoebe on her journey, and curls up next to her to sleep. And I love the kids that Phoebe cares for in the Loyalist camp, especially the rambunctious Tibby Thayer.
  
  One thing to consider if you're planning on reading this book to kids is that there is the occasional racial slur. I understand that they're included for historical accuracy and whatnot, but I'm not sure at what age a kid can read that the right way. So if you're reading this to a young child, make sure you explain why those words are not ok to use.
  
  Overall, it's a really nice story, a bit slow moving at times, but it definitely made me care about the characters.
• 
  Mookie

  Enh. It was okay. A bit clinically written, if that makes sense. Like Phoebe is thrust into the wilderness with no real survival training, and without any particular descriptors to paint the details of such a life. Bit of a witch-trial vibe. Not sure why the bear and the cat were of any importance. The romantic interest sure sounds like somebody with a temper. An interesting read, however, you never really hear stories from the Loyalist point of view.
• 
  Audrey

  Phoebe Olcott lived during the American Revolutionary War. She was dismayed when her beloved cousin Gideon was hanged for being a British spy. Later she discovered the secret message he was trying to deliver to the British army. Determined to deliver the message he left she treks across the wilderness accompanied by a cat and a bear cub. Somewhere along the way she connects with Loyalist refugees on their way to Canada. Some of them were suspicious that she was a rebel spy and traitor since her father had fought on the side of the Patriots. After much danger she finally reached the British Commanding Officer and was commended for her bravery.
• 
  Brianna

  While it was absolutely fascinating to read a book that was mostly from the loyalist POV (I really wish I could find more of these), the dialogue was rather stiff at times and there were other writing issues that put me off. :/ I did really like the story, though.
• 
  Dee

  I found this bk kind of dull. There were parts that the author seemed to gloss over that I would have been interested to know more about. A shame really , as I have read Lunn's books before and found them good
• 
  Christina Yorke

  Well written historical adventure for YA.
• 
  ...

  omg I remember she had a crush on her cousin or something ?? I shipped her and that other dude so hard tho
• 
  Mare

  Yesss, lovelovelove this book. Reminds me a bit of the Dear Canada books (which I love and obsessed over in grade 6)
• 
  Anna

  nostalgia re-read; doesn’t hold up as well as some of my other favorites from this era but i fully understand why 14-year-old me loved it
• 
  Nikki in Niagara

  This is the third book in a trilogy that I believe only has the connection that they take place in the same geographic area at some point. I read this book before a very long time ago but did not remember it as I re-read it this time. It's a bit slow to get into and not exactly a page-turner story. The plot is quiet and meandrous even though an adventure and mission is taking place. We are privy as much as to what is taking place inside Phoebe's thoughts as to what is happening to her physically. It is still a refreshing approach to the American War of Independence. The characters in the book are Loyalists who have to flee from their homes to Canada after being made to leave by the rebels, some violently others just forcibly. However, the main character, Phoebe, is neutral. Her freedom loving professor of a father leaves to fight for the rebels and gets killed the first year. At 13 she moves across the creek to her Aunt and Uncle's house. The Uncle is a pacifist, but his eldest son is Loyalist and goes off to fight for the King. Needless to say he suffers a gruesome end. Phoebe, now 15, goes across the country on her own, followed by a stray cat and bear cub, to complete her cousin's mission because she is loyal, loyal to family, not any side in any war. The book heavily portrays the terrible ways that neighbour turned against neighbour and the Loyalists were, any combination of, kicked out of their homes, property and chattel stolen, beaten, tarred and feathered, women and children with husbands gone off fighting were kicked out in the middle of the night with virtually nothing but their horse and cart and a bag of flour. Young men accused of being Loyalist were hanged and after the war these refugees hiding out in Canada were not allowed back into the new Independent America. The book also heavily focuses on that even while there was a war going on and many angry people had taken sides, just like in all wars anywhere, there were just so many people who really had no side, couldn't care less who won, just wanted their homes back, their towns to be safe, to be neighbourly again and their loved ones back home alive and hopefully in one piece. Even though I found the pacing slow, it is an enjoyable story with an exciting journey of survival across country and populated mostly with female characters.
• 
  Andrea O'Brien

  I read this book when I was in grade 7 and figured I would give it another go when it was still sitting on my shelf 17 years later. I like young adult books and decided to go back to my own pre-teen/teen days.
  
  I remember liking this book many many moons ago and I can still understand why; it's got adventure, animals, relatable characters and a touch of young love. The writing was fluid and easy, I am guilty of skimming some of the longer descriptions but I mark that up to having read the story before. 
  
  The plot and setting were great. It is a story of self discovery wrapped in an adventure. Phoebe Olcott is an underestimated girl, everyone dismisses her and takes her for granted. She lets them because she feels that is just how things are. When her cousin is hung for being a loyalist spy she undertakes to complete his last mission and brave the wilds to deliver his final message. Along the way she befriends a bear and runs into a group of refugees who were also displaced by the Revolutionary war. While traveling with them she undergoes several self aware epiphanies and eventually goes her separate way again. In the end she does complete her mission and make friends (and enemies) through her trials.
  The book is set on the Eastern seaboard as the characters travel up through New York and Vermont to get to Canada. The surroundings and place names are familiar which added an extra draw to the story for me (since I have grown up and lived on the East Coast my whole life).
  
  I like Phoebe as a character. She was relatable, especially when I was younger and reading this, she is quiet, mousey and servile. It's not until she is tested that the reader gets a sense of her inner strength and resilience. I think we all like to believe we have that inner fortitude. 
  
  I liked this book as a kid and I like it now - it was a nice “blast to the past” of a read (in more ways than one -- its historical fiction heh heh heh). 
• 
  ZelL

  Edit upon reread:
  As mentioned, I read this book twice in middle school, and loved it. I considered it as one of my all time favorites due to the connection and nostalgia I’ve felt for it.
  More than a decade later, I picked it up again (despite my long list of TBR) and devoured it in 2 days. I ignored my other “currently reading” books and buried my nose in this whenever I could!
  I still give it 5 stars. I still feel sorrow, bliss, melancholy, and butterflies in my stomach at the thought of it.
  I will reread it again in the future for sure! The story and characters remain to be special. In fact, I feel a bit sad I’ve finished this already.
  
  
  I read this book in middle school and LOVED IT, so I read it again within that same school year.
  
  It doesn’t have a rollercoaster type, overwhelmingly exciting plot. Instead, this book has a a rather heartwarming and interesting feel to it. The characters are round characters with slow developments and the love story is shy and charming (totally understated, I was in love with their love story!) As for the ending, it’s quite satisfying.
  
  Can’t wait to re-read this :)
• 
  Briana Garza

  I struggled with rating this book, but finally awarded it the extra star I had been hesitant to add. The story is certainly wordy, throwing in countless names of historical places and people that, though eventually prove to be relevant and interesting, send my eyes skimming over them in search of the point. I respected the research that went into writing The Hollow Tree, and was definitely moved by the aesthetics and descriptions of the mountainous land that Phoebe Olcott had to conquer. The heroine's arch from feeble to independent was satisfying, and the romance wasn't so bad either. The Hollow Tree would be a nice piece of historical fiction for mid-teenagers, delving into the trials of life for both Loyalists and Rebels during the Revolutionary War.
• 
  Lady Knight

  I first read this book when I was ten years old. It has remained a favorite of mine ever since then! This book was my introduction to the world of historical fiction (I'm not counting Laura Ingalls Wilder) and boy, what an introduction that was!!!
  Phoebe is a heroine that you immediately fall in love with, and instantly connect with (at least for all of us quiet shy types). You cry with her, cheer with her, and feel for her every step of the journey. This is a great book for teens (in retrospect this book is probably a little old for ten year olds - maybe a little graphic) and really anyone who loves historical fiction. Read it and you won't be disappointed!
• 
  Micha

  United Empire Loyalists! Now that I better know what they are, I find this a curious children's book for Canadians. From my understanding, a lot of Canadians (no matter how recently they arrived from Europe, including
  Susanna Moodie) had a pretty strong antipathy towards Loyalists. The problem with reading this in Grade Eight was that I had become so image-conscious that I disliked the female protagonist for being homely on the cover. How terrible is that?
• 
  David Vance

  This book put me to sleep (literally) several times while reading it, and I honestly thought I could never read it with my students for that reason. But somehow, the whole was much greater than the sum of its parts, and it turned into a real epic over time with a formidable main character. I love the way Canada’s early history is unfolded in this, as well.
• 
  Melissa

  I thought this was a great children's book that I would have absolutely loved when I was younger. Takes place during the revolutionary war and focuses a bit more on the loyalists, which was a nice and instructive (to me)change.