Samar and Stephen persuade Francesca to read the diary. On Wishing Day, the townspeople fill Red’s branches with their wishes. That night, Samar opens the diary and finds that the story told to her by Red is within it-in Maeve’s words. Francesca tells Samar that the actual diary is in the shed behind her house. Francesca will not listen, although she does recognize the key around Samar’s neck as the one that opens her great-great-grandmother Maeve’s diary. The next day, Stephen and Samar beg Francesca not to cut Red down. Two nights before Wishing Day, Red tells Stephen and Samar the story of Maeve and Amadora. Francesca also makes serious preparations to cut Red down on Wishing Day.įinally, in a desperate attempt to both save their own life and grant Samar’s wish, Red breaks the rule of nature which dictates that animals and plants can’t talk to humans. Meanwhile, Red consorts with their animal friends to orchestrate Samar’s wish. Francesca uses this unpleasant event, as well as the fact that Red’s roots are disrupting her plumbing, as an excuse to cut Red down.

One day, an unnamed teenager scrawls the word “LEAVE” into Red’s trunk, an action viewed as a threat against Samar and her family.

Bongo also gifts Samar with a small silver key. It’s clear by her surreptitious longing for her neighbor Stephen’s attention that she hopes he might befriend her.

Red’s ragtag gang of animal friends-which include three discrete family units of raccoons, opossums, and owls, as well as Red’s best friend, the crow Bongo-take an immediate liking to Samar. Every night, she visits Red after her parents have gone to sleep. She is quiet, intelligent, and friendless-but she enjoys a special connection to the natural world. Samar is the only child of the Muslim family. Francesca watches passively as a new Muslim family in the community bears escalating harassment. In the present day, Maeve’s great-great granddaughter named Francesca is technically the owner of Red, as Red grows on her property. Initially ostracized for her choice, Maeve eventually succeeded in carving out a place for herself and her hybrid family within the community. Maeve, unmarried and lonely, adopted the Italian baby and gave her a name that honored her heritage-Amadora. Maeve received her wish when a destitute Italian immigrant left a baby in one of Red’s hollows. They became a wishtree when a young woman named Maeve brought her Irish tradition to the town and tied a wish on Red’s branch for someone to love. Red has been rooted to their spot since before 1848, when an influx of immigrants arrived in the area. Every May 1, on Wishing Day, townspeople make a pilgrimage to Red to tie their dearest wishes to Red’s branches. Red is a dioecious tree who has both male and female characteristics, so refers to themself with the pronoun “they.” The story takes place in an unnamed American town, where Red is a wishtree. This book’s narrator is a 216-year-old northern oak tree named Red.

Book wishtree