Forever Birchwood

The middle-grade debut of Danielle Daniel follows adventurous Wolf, a girl living in a northern mining town. She explores the wilderness with her friends and cherishes her tree-house hideaway, Birchwood. Her grandmother reveals that Wolf is the great-granddaughter of a tree talker and is destined to protect the surrounding nature. However, Wolf's mother is disconnected from their Indigenous roots and is involved with dubious environmental practices through her new boyfriend's construction company. As summer begins, Wolf and her friends find their hangout spot threatened, and their friendship tested. Through evocative language, Daniel captures the poignant challenges of adolescence and the fight to preserve one's cherished environment.