The Arborist - Tapa dura

When eleven-year old Charlie Roebecker befriends Chief Goodyear, a homeless evacuee from Hurricane Katrina, he is not expecting any miracles. As he says, "You can do only small things to fix a big problem." Chief Goodyear is an arborist - a fixer of trees. Along with the stray dog he has brought from the flooded city, he leaves the overcrowded relief shelter where he has been placed, in search of work and "space to breath." He sets up camp in a vacant lot next to the local hardware store. His arrival starts Charlie on a mission to do what no one else in the town seems willing to do: help the homeless stranger get a new start.As Christmas nears, Charlie's family makes their annual trip to the tree lot where they choose the perfect Christmas tree - "So full and triangular it could have stood in the White House." Charlie brings home a scrawny little pine with a crooked trunk and no top—The Puny—which he plans to decorate and give to the Chief. Charlie's sister calls it "a sick, midget tree puked from the forest." His best friend says it's "creepy looking." But Charlie knows better. He has the imagination to see what the little tree might become. And in the hands of an arborist—who knows what could happen!

M. S. Holm was born in Boston and raised in New England. After attending Dartmouth College, he worked variously as a dishwasher, taxi driver, dockhand, and substitute teacher. He is the author of HOW MOHAMMED SAVED MISS LIBERTY. He invites readers to write him at thearborist@sentrybooks.com