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Tree Dreams

A Novel

Published by SparkPress
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

When seventeen-year-old Jade Reynolds witnesses a violent clash between a protesting tree sitter and a local logger, she runs as far as she can from the battles that plague her home and from the mysteries of the redwood forest. But the ancient redwoods are embedded in her psyche—she feels their call even in the dark and forgotten back alleys of Portland, Oregon where she’s hiding out. She soon becomes entangled with a lovable misfit and a band of radical slackers, environmentalists, and anarchists, and finds herself living 100 feet high in the canopy of a redwood grove, trying to decide whose side she’s on: the logging community she’s known her entire life or the environmentalists who are risking their lives for the future of the forest. To find a way beyond the division between Us and Them, Jade turns to the ancient trees themselves—and the thread-thin web that connects us all. Tree Dreams is an eco-literary, coming of age novel relevant for teenagers and adults alike, for this rite of passage asks the same of us all—whatever our age or life stage, we each must discover our one true voice, and learn how to offer it to the world.

About The Author

Kristin Kaye is an author, ghostwriter and teacher whose work sits at the intersection of nature, narrative and spirituality. Tree Dreams has given rise to a global tree tagging campaign that celebrates the myriad ways we are connected to each other, to nature and to our future (treedreams.net). Kristin’s previous work includes Iron Maidens: The Celebration of the Most Awesome Female Muscle in the World, a work of literary non-fiction about her experience directing twenty-five of the world’s strongest and most muscular women in their off-Broadway debut. Iron Maidens was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards and described by Utne magazine as “one of 5 new titles for women who resist easy definition.”

Product Details

  • Publisher: SparkPress (April 10, 2018)
  • Length: 208 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781943006472

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Raves and Reviews

WINNER 2018 - International Book Awards: YA Fiction
Every Day is Earth Day: 365 Books to Create Your Climate Change Library — LitHub
One of 5 Books to Read to Prep for Earth Day – BuzzFeed
One of 10 Books to Keep You Woke in 2018 – Bookstr
Finalist 2019- NextGen Indie Book Awards: Regional Fiction


“In brilliantly onomatopoeic prose, Kaye shows how Jade comes to several epiphanies about her tree dreams while also coming to know the people that her family considers enemies. Throughout, the author relates the protagonist’s tale of redemption in delightfully sparse language, like a long poem in which small details matter, every word counts, and images are so cogent that they anchor readers in the fictive reality like tree roots . . . A superbly written tale filled with realistic, engaging, and quirky characters.”Kirkus Reviews

“Kristin Kaye’s coming of age novel artfully places her young heroine in the midst of the burning questions facing the entire world, such as climate change and culture wars. At the same time, she manages to weave her into a discovery of the ancient human connections to both trees and dreams. This is a work of wit and imagination that informs as it inspires; it also marks a trail of encouragement for the mutual lives of people and trees.” — Michael Meade, author of The Genius Myth and Why the World Doesn’t End

Tree Dreams is a touching coming-of-age novel about a budding environmentalist, the seventeen-year-old Jade Reynolds. After witnessing a violent incident involving a logger and a tree hugger, the protagonist joins a band of radical environmentalists who live in the forests of Oregon. This is a great read for adults and teenagers alike.” — Amy Brady for LitHub‘s list Every Day is Earth Day

“Kaye’s first novel captures the way a teenager sees the world while also giving Jade a unique voice….Jade’s tree dreams weave her reverence for nature with the fraught and tenuous webs that connect all of us to it. Through her, readers feel the sway of the big trees, how they move “with so many other things, like another language.” Booklist

“As much as Tree Dreams pulses with the ancient call to find our way home, Kristin Kaye’s story of loss and redemption is also fresh, edgy and thrilling. Her prose inhales and exhales and speaks to the best in us, reminding us that sometimes we must face an ache rooted deeply inside. We must risk everything, including our identity and comforts, to find the truth we are searching for.” — Maura Conlon-McIvor, author of FBI Girl: How I Learned to Crack My Father’s Code

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