The novel, Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate, follows the main character, Red, who is a redwood tree, through a story discrimination and acceptance. This fictional novel, published by Feiwel & Friends in 2017, displays the wisdom Red has gathered for centuries and his ability to understand the actions of humans even when they are in the wrong. Through this compassion, Red highlights the main theme of the novel, which is friendship. As a result, this novel begins with the introduction of Samar and her family who have just recently moved into the neighborhood harboring Red, who is also known as the Wishtree. Samar’s family was peer-pressured to leave their old neighborhood because of the same reason they have moved countless other times, they are Muslim. In fact, they face the same problem in the community they have just moved into. Words such as “leave” were carved into the bark of Red, which was the one place Samar felt at peace. Every year, a tradition is held to tie pieces of paper around Red and in each piece of paper, a wish is written. Every night, Samar sneaks out of her house to sit quietly around Red. However, one night, Samar decides to make her own wish, which was to “make a friend.” Red understands her wish and the novel continues with Red’s intricate plans to befriend Samar and Stephen, who is one of Samar’s neighbors. This book was very inspiring because it showed me the importance of having healthy and reliable relationships. Even though Red was very wise, he was not able to do everything on his own. He needed the help of his friends, who were animals, to help him enact plans and eventually save his life. I agree with Applegate’s opinion about everyone desiring for something better. Even though one’s wish may sound cruel or weird, it still shows what they can believe in or benefit from. This opinion also correlates similarly with the ideas presented in The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros. Through her characters, Cisneros highlights the wishes of women living in poverty and their hope for a better life as well. Every one of the characters in The House on Mango Street hope and strive for a better future, whether it be through marrying or doing it all on their own. This book explores the possibility of trees having the ability to talk. It reveals the enormous amount of wisdom some trees behold from watching humans for years and years of their life. Even so, the book does leave out the crucial information as to why trees were never allowed to speak in the first place. In conclusion, the novel, Wishtree, opened my eyes to the importance of friendship. It showed me that no amount of knowledge can get rid of the importance of friends. This book has guided me through my social life in the real world as well. I advise future readers to read the book slowly to deeply understand the meaning behind every character in Wishtree.
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