Reach
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jan 27, 2026
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Wishtree meets Song for a Whale, in this beautifully moving story about a boy whose wish for his family to return to the way it used to be, teaches him the real meaning of roots and the new ones that can grow if we let them.
Ever since getting a little stepbrother named Harlan, Denver hasn’t felt like he fits into his own family. Lots of people find Harlan charming, but not Denver. His pesky stepbrother tags along everywhere Denver goes, breaking things and wanting Denver’s attention every. single. second. After an especially disastrous morning, Denver escapes to the forest, experiencing a whiff of ancient magic when he meets an old and dignified but lonely tree named Spiro. When Spiro offers to turn Harlan into a tree for a few hours, Denver jumps at the chance—only to realize he’s made a mistake when nobody, including his mom and stepdad, seems to remember Harlan existed. And now Spiro isn’t certain he can reverse the transformation.
To save Harlan, Denver will need to find out what happened to Spiro to make him so disconnected from the other trees in the forest . . . but to do so the change he might have to make first is within himself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A tween struggles to undo the unprecedented result of an impulsive wish in this empathetic speculative novel. Twelve-year-old Denver wants to be left alone to tinker with his robotics experiments; instead, he's forced to spend the summer entertaining his younger stepbrother Harlan while their parents work at an Idaho lakeside resort. Exploring the nearby forest on his own, Denver is amazed to find he can communicate with the trees, and he forms a friendship with an isolated, ailing ponderosa named Spiro. Things turn sideways when Harlan, who can also talk to foliage, accepts Spiro's offer to be temporarily transformed into a tree. Promising to check on Harlan later, Denver returns to the resort—and discovers that no one, not even their parents, remembers that Harlan exists. And when Spiro's forest magic fails to return Harlan to human form, Denver must figure out how to save his brother, and Spiro, before it's too late. Considering Denver's complex feelings surrounding his parents' divorce and his shifting relationship with Harlan, Rimington (Tips for Magicians) forms parallel narratives about the impact of grief and change across families. Denver cues as white; Harlan is described as olive-skinned. Ages 10–up.
