"...and through The Chaplain's leaves she could see the lights of her house. ...took her time walking slowly up the slope of the long, green yard." Page 49.
"... maybe the trees are so old they remember the Iroquois Indians. Maybe the Indians purposefully left those oaks in a line as guideposts. Elizabeth liked that idea and liked to think that once, long ago before the European farmers came to clear the woods, there had been a great line of oaks nodding and waving to each other and passing information up and down a living line all through Upstate New York." Page 12.
"She was in the dark but felt compelled to move herself toward the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard. It sounded like harps and choirs and bells and magic. The sound grew louder and louder until it was all around her." Page 64.
It's about a girl who lives on this incredible farm that seems to stretch for miles. She has almost a connection with the earth. One day some otter stands on its hind legs and says that she needs to help it. This otters name is Gaia. Gaia is the earth. At the same time evil Harmony Farms a factory farm is buying land from the farmers in Avon.
"Boy, they made it sound so great. Harmony Farms was feeding the hungry and doing it cheaply... It made her feel weird but not as weird as what she was next... Such farms were called CAFOs, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. The pictures were disgusting. Pigs were crammed so close together they bit each other's tails! Chickens had their beaks burned dull. Cows pumped full of antibiotics and things called growth hormones and then killed by shooting a bolt in their brains. And it got worse... air for miles around had toxic chemicals in it. It ran off into rivers and streams and ruined them. Those living near it had to move because of asthma attacks and giant swarms of flies." Pages 174-175.
This is why Gaia was asking for help. She was becoming destroyed. She needed Elizabeth to help her save herself.
So far I like this book because it is about saving the planet and has an important message. This is a series of six. I hope that you try it or one of the others. I would rate this book a perfect ten.
This book sounds like heaven for you because it has so many of the elements that you like: a good story, environmental overtones, and compassion.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of connections do you make to real life? What does it make you think about how animals are raised for food now?
Maggie,
ReplyDeleteThis book is heaven for me and I'm hoping I can get my grubby hands on the next one. My connections to real life are that in real life stuff like this does happen, and people do try and stop it. I can see why Clem became a vegetarian. I guess I need to do my research. It also makes me think about what I'm eating in the sense what's in it. I also think that the people who take these jobs are almost well (not to be mean but) blackhearted. I wonder what their sleep must be like and what their consciences are telling them.