The Treespooners
Finn, a troubled teenager from a broken home. Sofia, an environmentalist and star delegate on the Model UN team. Oscar, a boy scout with a father on the police force and a rigid sense of right and wrong. Tonya, a seventh grader armed with a hyperactive imagination and a notebook full of fantastical creature drawings. On the surface, these four kids couldn’t be more different. They come from different grades, different social circles, and wildly different understandings of the world. Yet they share one unlikely common thread: Blackstone Woods.
Blackstone Woods is a cozy, forested patch along the outskirts of their suburban Pennsylvania town. To adults — especially their parents — it’s little more than a neglected stretch of overgrown land, an eyesore waiting to be cleared. But to the kids, it is something sacred. It’s a meeting place, a quiet refuge where time seems to slow down. It’s where Sofia leads impromptu nature walks, where Tonya spins elaborate stories about forest spirits, where Oscar practices outdoor survival skills, and where Finn escapes the chaos of home. For each of them, the woods represent freedom, possibility, and a connection to something larger than themselves.
When a real-estate developer purchases the land with plans to bulldoze it in favor of an upscale gated community, their sanctuary comes under immediate threat. Suddenly, these misfit kids, who might never have crossed paths otherwise, are united by a shared urgency. They band together to defend the only place that has ever felt like theirs, even though the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them.
What does “saving the planet” look like to a generation that may never own homes, let alone influence decisions about forests, waterways, or the natural world? What is the point of standing up to a bully who seems to own everything, when you feel you have nothing? The Treespooners is a young adult coming-of-age story about environmental direct action, unlikely friendship, and discovering that even small voices can echo loudly when they rise together.
Manuscript currently in progress.
