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71st out of 76 books
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33 voters
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Tree Girl
They call Gabriela Tree Girl. Gabi climbs trees to be within reach of the eagles and watch the sun rise into an empty sky. She is at home among the outstretched branches of the Guatemalan forests.
Then one day from the safety of a tree, Gabi witnesses the sights and sounds of an unspeakable massacre. She vows to be Tree Girl no more and joins the hordes of refugees strugg
...morePaperback, 230 pages
Published
September 1st 2005
by HarperTempest
(first published 2004)
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This is a true story about a young girl who survived the brutal massacres (or genocide) of the indigenous peoples of Guatemala during the 1980s. The military that brutally attacked them was trained in the US and received arms from the US. When you start reading this book, things get bad, and then you start reading faster and faster so that you can find a place where things finally get better for Gabriela, the "Tree Girl", but, instead, they get worse and worse. If this book doesn't ...more
I really liked book because it used like a true life setting, about people living in a war zone. And how they have to hide their own heritage, just so they can protect themselves from the gurillas.
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Wow! This was a very real and incredibly distressing story. I've never been very familiar with the genocide in Guatemala, and I don't think I'm the only American who can say that. That's not surprising since the Genocide in Guatemala was caused by soldiers who were outfitted with weaponry, uniforms and military training by the United States Government. It is and should be considered a great shame of our nation, one of many if I'm going to be very blunt.
Gabriela, a happy girl with...more
Gabriela, a happy girl with...more
What a heartbreaking story. I was stunned at the violence portrayed in this young reader's book, yet I appreciate the fact that Mikaelsen does not dumb down the atrocities this poor child experienced. As told through the eyes of a pre-teenager, I will let the book speak for itself with the following excerpts.
"At first I spotted only a single body lying in front of a burning home, but then I saw another and another. Scattered everywhere among the ashes of our canton were corps...more
"At first I spotted only a single body lying in front of a burning home, but then I saw another and another. Scattered everywhere among the ashes of our canton were corps...more
Well written and very touching! Reading the book was like watching a war theme movie. It tells a shocking story through a young girl's eyes to show what wars can bring to human beings. I actually cried when I read about Gabriela's little brother who was found dead painfully yet peacefully during hiding from the soldiers. And it really terrified me by the genocide happened in Guatemala. I was tortured to read through that paticular chapter of massacres, which made me want to throw up.( And all th...more
s.leep
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Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelsen (2005) Guatemalan villager Gabi has always been drawn to climb tall trees, and is the only member of her indigenous family to attend school. But she finds herself alone when her village is destroyed by the military, and her harrowing journey becomes more sobering in light of the fact that Gabi is based on a real Tree Girl, and that the ethnic cleansing depicted in the novel is based on historical fact.
This story is told in the first person, which both incre...more
This story is told in the first person, which both incre...more
Savannah
rated it
Shelves:
biography,
coming-of-age,
families,
fiction,
friendship,
history,
librarybook,
kidlit,
politics,
race
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YA Mikaelson
An intense and moving story about a young girl who flees from her war torn home in Guatemala and flees to an impoverished refugee camp in neighboring Mexico. Before the turmoil and unrest, Gabriela climbed trees to be closer to heaven and because she feels free. After she witnesses senseless murders and other violent acts of war from the safety of a tree where she remains hidden, she vows to never climb a tree again as the guilt she feels for witnessing such violence wh...more
An intense and moving story about a young girl who flees from her war torn home in Guatemala and flees to an impoverished refugee camp in neighboring Mexico. Before the turmoil and unrest, Gabriela climbed trees to be closer to heaven and because she feels free. After she witnesses senseless murders and other violent acts of war from the safety of a tree where she remains hidden, she vows to never climb a tree again as the guilt she feels for witnessing such violence wh...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This was a short but brutal novel about one teen-aged girl's experience as a villager caught in the crossfire between soldiers and guerrillas in Guatemala. Her family and friends are slaughtered, one by one, and she witnesses atrocities most of us pray we will never have to experience. No dates are given, but since the soldiers claim to have been trained and armed by Americans, I think we can assume this took place during the genocide of the 1980s.
The author claims that the book ...more
The author claims that the book ...more
The only reason I picked up this book was because I didn't have anything else to read. I was kind of hesitant because the title just sounded so cheesy. I mean Tree Girl? Wow, that sounds dumb. After I was done reading it however, I was glad of my decision of reading the book. But please, be warned. If you do not like books that well, make you cry like a baby, don't read this book. The fact that it is a true story makes it even more sad. But even with the great story, the writing style co...more
Treegirl is a book written by Ben Mikaelsen and it is about a girl named Gabriela. The book starts off by saying that Gabriela is going to have a quinceañera soon and that there is a war going on. People in her canton call her "Treegirl" because she loves to climb trees. On the night of her quinceañera, soldiers come to her canton. They are looking for a man and instead they take Gabriela's brother. Her family suffers alot for this and her mother becomes ill. Gabriela and other peop...more
The war torn country of Guatemala is seen through the eyes of a young girl, here kid sister, and another baby as they watch families slaughtered by guerillas and try to survive in a refugee camp.
"Gabriella, when you climb a tree, it takes you closer to heaven."
As I lay exhausted and nearly unconscious beneath the machichi tree in the middle of that burning pueblo, with smoke clouding the air and the wretched smell of burned bodies as thick as haze around me, I m...more
"Gabriella, when you climb a tree, it takes you closer to heaven."
As I lay exhausted and nearly unconscious beneath the machichi tree in the middle of that burning pueblo, with smoke clouding the air and the wretched smell of burned bodies as thick as haze around me, I m...more
Gabriela is a very bright Indio peasant living in Guatemala. She is the top Spanish speaker at her village school. She is a content well adjusted child who is going to have her quinceanera. She has earned the name Tree Girl for her love of climbing trees. However, war is coming to Guatemala. The reasons are not clear to Gabriela something about communism. As the book progresses the massacres against the Indios become worse and more brutal. Can Gabriela survive in such a harsh environment?...more
well i must say that this book is really good !... i can really relate to this story not only that some of the traditions made form a sisteen year old girl. This special spanish speaking young lady had witnessed many obsticles thruogh her life such as the death of her mother as well as the death of her beloved teacher. This brave guerrilla girl had alwasy dreamed of living in thr clouds beneath the world .That is the reason why she clibs trees. Not only was she brave on everything she had gone t...more
The book I chose for my Summer Reading Project was Treegirl by Ben Mikaelson.The main characters of that book are:Gabriela,Alicia,Manuel,Mario,Maria,Carmen,and Rosa.The other characters were not as important as the other characters but they were not unimportant.The genre is nonfiction because it is based on a true story, actually she told the author about her expierience and he wrote a book about it. The point of view is 1st person because she was using words like I and me throughout the who...more
Tree girl was great.This book had characters with heart and love.This book was about a girl name Gabreila but everybody called her
"Tree girl" because she loved to clime trees abd could trees ral good.In this book she could clime trees higher than anyone I know.She was the 2nd oldest in her family and her parents paid for her to go to school.
In this book her village was apart of a war one day her teacher took them to a pic-nic and was killed right in front of the studen...more
"Tree girl" because she loved to clime trees abd could trees ral good.In this book she could clime trees higher than anyone I know.She was the 2nd oldest in her family and her parents paid for her to go to school.
In this book her village was apart of a war one day her teacher took them to a pic-nic and was killed right in front of the studen...more
I am not quite sure what to say about this book. I thought it would be a real simple quick read. It was easy to read but the content was a little bit harder. It deals with genocide of the Guatemalan massacres during the 1980's. Gabriela survived them but saw them actually happen.
I would read the authors note in the back first. It will help to put everything into perspective in the book.
I did give the book 5 stars. I thought the author wrote it well and was able to get the feeling a...more
I would read the authors note in the back first. It will help to put everything into perspective in the book.
I did give the book 5 stars. I thought the author wrote it well and was able to get the feeling a...more
The book was awesome and became one of my favorite books of all time. The scenery and description is just so awesome. It made me feel what Gabi was feeling while she "journeyed" out of her homeland and into the fields of chaos. Old book, really hard to remember but all I know that it is awesome! I wanted to read this every time I had the chance to in class immediately.
Carola
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They call her Tree Girl. she climbs trees to be with the eagles and watch the sun rise into the sky. She is at home with the landscape and branches of the Guatemalan forests.
One day she is forced to leave her hole family; her entire village has been chopped into pieces.But still she has hope the hope that she will be reunited with her youngest sister one of the only survivors, Alicia. Gabriela's search for Alicia and for a safety. Will she ever have her live again.
I thi...more
One day she is forced to leave her hole family; her entire village has been chopped into pieces.But still she has hope the hope that she will be reunited with her youngest sister one of the only survivors, Alicia. Gabriela's search for Alicia and for a safety. Will she ever have her live again.
I thi...more
I like Ben Mikaelsen's writing but this one was a bit awkward for me. It maybe was the setting of the story and my unfamiliarity of several words form the culture that made it difficult at times to picture myself in the story. A very compelling story none the less and not for the faint of heart as it describes the physical abuse of the Guatemalan people.
I heard Ben Mikaelsen speak a few years ago and he has an amazing story. I have always liked his books, and this is no exception. I would not recommend it to anyone younger than high school. It is well-written and has a satisfying ending. But there is a fair amount of graphic violence in it. The setting is Guatemala. A powerful read.
This is a fantastic true account of what it is like to live in a war-torn country. Gabriela's village is attacked by soldiers and she watches almost everyone she loves die at the hands of violent soldiers. Based on a true story, Gabriela uses her courage to escape to Mexico to a refugee camp. Due to the subject of the book, it contains mature content including violence, torture, rape and other war-related struggles.
Not really knowing much about the genocide in Guatemala, this book was a real eye opener. Having sat in a course with this author, it had quite an impact to know he interviewed this girl and had to be secreted with her. Still today he cannot reveal her identity or she would be dead.
This book was written at a 4th grade level, but the content is not any that i would allow my 4th grader to read. It was based on a true story about horrific events in Guatemala in a civil war. I only finished reading because they were true events, but it is sad and very disturbing.
I liked this book but it was a little sad. It really made me think about what I would do if it were me in the same situation. I don't know that I would be as strong as she was. This is based on a true story and I can't believe how much the main character had to go through.
This book is all about war about the guerillas and the Latinos. In the beginning, I really liked how it started, but somewhere in the middle, I began to dislike the book because it really is all about blood and yeah. The ending ended up pretty weird and stupid, but overall, I kind of like the book because of the morals it gives me.
This book is a pretty good book. I really like that it exposed realities of sadness. I am always amazed at how mean and bad humans can be. One part of the book even has the main character saying, as she holds a newborn baby, she can't believe that a baby could grow up to be awful like the soldiers. While I do appreciate learning about truths that are hard to face in our world, there are times in my life when I have a hard time stomaching them. Now, as a mother of a young, innocent daughter,...more
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Tree Girl was a good book, I really enjoyed it. One reason I enjoyed it was because this book made my emotions go wild !!!! I also liked it because the author is so descriptive. Also while reading this book it had me thinking. like when he mentioned on Gabis celebration for her birthday, that she had to stop wearing socks. I also wondered what did the soldiers want from the villages, and what made then so mad to just go around and kill everybody. And the last thing on my mind, was why did Gabi l...more
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