NOTABLE BOOK: 2023 CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers


Eleven-year-old Alberta Bracken is having a terrible summer. After a bike-riding accident, caused by the local bully, her arm's in a cast so she can't do her most favourite holiday activity: boogie boarding at the local beach. And her little sister Clementine is EXTREMELY ANNOYING.

To make matters worse, her mum (bestselling author of Tammy Bracken's Guide to Modern Manners) has sent her dad packing - after discovering his behaviour has been far from...well-mannered.

So when budding filmmaker Mikki Watanabe suggests they start a YouTube channel about the secret life of trees - Alberta is ALL IN. And when they discover their trees are earmarked for removal by the local council it's suddenly a race against time to save them.

Funny, warm and a little offbeat, this highly entertaining novel hits all the right notes for middle-fiction readers.