Harry's Trees is a story about grief and recovery that somehow manages to be fanciful and resist sentimentality. Oriana, a voracious fairy tale reader who spends much of her time either in a treehouse or with her best friend Olive the librarian, is enchanting. Olive has the kind of sage, raw power that makes me fall in love with the library field all over again. The prose is beautiful, the symbolism is heavy, and all I want to do is make my way over to Wilderness Tract A803. ( )

Harry was a government forest worker. He had long wanted to quit his pencil-pushing job and begin his own nursery. While his wife encouraged his dream, Harry wanted to have a large nest egg before beginning: the type of nest egg that could only come from winning the lottery.

And he did win the lottery – unfortunately as his beloved wife stood outside the store while he was buying the ticket, she was killed in a freak accident.

Heartbroken, Harry headed to the forest to kill himself. He was saved by a precocious young girl, also grieving her father’s death.

There’s a town library with a heroic elderly librarian struggling to keep it open. There’s a mysterious hand-written book about a grum, a troll-like creature sitting on a pile of gold. There is an evil, entitled brother, and of course the little girl’s lovely grieving mother.

Harry and the girl devise a plan to take the curse off the money (which Harry no longer wants).

It’s saccharine and mostly predictable and until about three quarters of the way through I wondered if I would finish it. But then the characters took hold, a bit of magic happened and I was interested, although never quite charmed by this modern fairy tale.

Lots of promise, not quite realized. ( )

Intersecting threads that make for a fun read. ( )

This one lagged early, but it grew on me. Through the first third or maybe even half, I was going to give it 3 stars, but there was just too much good about how it wrapped up. I loved the idea of the importance of story in our lives. ( )

The most remarkable story imaginable!

6 Star rating!

As I sit contemplating the impact of this book, I grow teary eyed from joy. Jon Cohen has created a masterpiece by weaving a story within a story about a small group of people in the Endless mountains of Pennsylvania. Not only are the characters memorable, they embody the beauty of life, love and forgiveness.

Harry Crane's life falls to the depths due to the sudden death of his wife. His first mistake is taking unnecessary blame for the accident. A lifelong lover of trees and the forest, the discovery of an unusual tree house seems like the perfect place to grieve. What unfolds is a fairytale like journey of redemption due to the impact a little girl and her mother have on his life.

Midway through, we're left to choose an antagonist: A) Harry's big brother; B) a friend of the girl's mother or, C) a local realtor; the reality comes as a surprise. Spurned by the girl's 'magical book', Harry commits to a unique action he prays will heal the faultless wrong he'd done. Going from forest ranger to 'Susquehanna Santa' was the furthest thing from his plan.

As readers we all know the importance of books and how some can be life changing. Such is the case when the elderly librarian's cherished story passes from her to the girl and to Harry. Theories are one thing; reality will often be quite another.

In a word, this is a rare, unique and extraordinary story that's well written, paced to perfection and engaging at deep levels. Highly recommended regardless of your favorite genre; Harry's Trees stands alone. ( )