[7PO]⋙ Read Gratis Toby Alone Timothee de Fombelle 9781406313154 Books

Toby Alone Timothee de Fombelle 9781406313154 Books

Download As PDF : Toby Alone Timothee de Fombelle 9781406313154 Books

Toby Alone Timothee de Fombelle 9781406313154 Books

I haven't read this book to my daughter yet, but it looks great! The product arrived immediately and in great condition.


Tags : Toby Alone [Timothee de Fombelle] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Rare book,Timothee de Fombelle,Toby Alone,Walker Books Ltd,1406313157,Adventure stories (Children'sYA)

Toby Alone Timothee de Fombelle 9781406313154 Books Reviews

Life is difficult when you're 13 years old. Life is even tougher when you're 13 and one-and-a-half millimeters tall. And life possibly could not get any worse when you're 13, one-and-a-half millimeters tall, and on the run with a secret that people would kill for --- even if it means killing an innocent child. Toby Lolness, however, takes it all in stride as he plots to save his parents and clear the family name from the misunderstanding that started the whole mess.

Toby and his parents, the brilliant scientist Sim and the lovely Maya, were exiled to the lower branches of the great oak Tree years ago after Sim discovered an amazing fact about the home of their great civilization --- it's alive! With his family looking on, Sim demonstrates to the grand council how the Tree's sap works and how harming it will kill their only home. This alarming news is not met with open arms by one particular member of the council, Joe Mitch, who is making a gold mine with his deep digging operation at the center of the tree and who hopes to harvest the sap for his own benefit. When Sim refuses to share the secret of the power of the sap, Mitch leads the effort to banish Sim, Maya and Toby from the summit of the Tree.

At first Toby is apprehensive about the lower branches. His family is starting from scratch, it is close to the grasslands and the mysterious (if not dangerous) grass people, and Toby is without a friend his own age. Slowly but surely, Toby begins to adapt to his surroundings. He has an uncanny sense of direction among the rugged wilderness and has befriended the beautiful Elisha Lee, a girl his own age with whom he spends much of his time. Over the years Toby grows up healthy and happy, even if he is short.

A letter proclaiming the death of Toby's grandmother propels the family back up north for the first time since they were banished. Even though many years have passed, Mitch hasn't forgotten --- or forgiven --- the Lolness family for refusing to share the secret of the tree's sap. Sim and Maya are captured, but Toby escapes and is indeed alone as he flees his pursuers, attempts to return to Elisha and his home among the lower branches, and figure out a way to free his parents. Numerous dangers wait at each turn as Toby battles both the people of the tree and the elements of nature.

Timothee de Fombelle seamlessly weaves flashbacks among the main action to provide much of the back story to the world Toby and the people of the Tree inhabit. It is easy to spot the environmental allegory in the story, but it does not come off as preachy by any means. Instead, it lets the readers see what happens when a society becomes greedy and turns a blind eye to protecting its home. A fold-out map in the cover and many clever illustrations add an extra element to the book. Although Toby is small, his story is not, and readers will not be disappointed with the swift storytelling and the big hearts of many of its main characters. TOBY ALONE is just the start of a larger story with bigger implications to be revealed in the next book.

--- Reviewed by Benjamin Boche
As a mother who screens everything her 11-year-old daughter reads, I always welcome recommendations from librarians and booksellers, especially if they are pre-published. When we received "Toby Alone" by Timothée De Fombelle, it was not a pre-pub - but still new to our library, and I am really glad our library has it in their catalogue. It is not a "happy" book, and the way it is structured is reminiscent of how tree roots and branches grow, really, tangling back and forth and doubling over - it is disturbing in the way Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" was disturbing when I read it in school, only a little less. Maybe. It is very thought-provoking, and raises very eerie questions about what power really means in the hands of conscience, when the viewpoint is not a popular one. What does our government know that they are keeping from us for "our own good"? Or the good of the environment? The good of "life as we know it"? These are easily very deep questions that would generate heated discussions in the classrooms during Literature class and, while I really can't say I *enjoyed* the book, I find myself thinking about it and the issues it raises long after I've put the book down. I guess it's a book that really *grows* on you! I believe said daughter feels similarly. In her words

"The book, `Toby Alone' by Timothée De Fombelle is an adventurous, if unsettling, book for tweens.

"Toby is only one millimeter tall at 13 and, lives in a big oak tree with his parents. Already, he has a so-called life of crime, due to his father. You see, Toby's father is a famous scientist. Everyone admires him. That is, until he finds a secret he is not willing to part with, because it will kill the very tree they live in, even though it would help people work less. That's all. As a result, Toby's family is banished to the Lower Branches where he meets Elisha, his only true friend. Then, that life crumbles away when his family is captured. Toby escapes, only to be chased after again by his so-called best friend (from the Higher Branches). What a wonderful life.

"I wouldn't recommend this book to younger tweens or kids because the book was uncomfortable in how the author described things. However, I think that it is perfectly fine for teenagers.

"I would give the book three stars one for the plot, one for cover and one for the fact that it kept me hooked."
I haven't read this book to my daughter yet, but it looks great! The product arrived immediately and in great condition.