Bark beneath Her Feet

Eden Tadesse, a 12-year-old living in the highlands of Ethiopia, carries a heavy load. Her father is dead, and she must live with a relative who doesn’t want her, working to survive while going to school. Eden doesn’t see hope until a new priest arrives at the village church. He brings her startling thoughts of God’s eye upon her. With this understanding come dreams of a speaking Tree in the most beautiful garden she’s ever seen.

Joining her cousin Tsadiqu, and his mercurial camel, Deborah, Eden applies her intelligence to beekeeping and odd jobs in order to help pay for food and school fees. Just as conditions begin to better, an accident changes everything. Can Eden face the loss of a fresh chance in life? Can she believe what the Tree in her dreams tells her?

This middle grade coming of age story answers the question of what might happen if a person climbed scripture's Tree of Life. The story contains edges of prayer-driven Christian mysticism in the imagined persona of the Tree. Christ's voice through the Tree gently mentors a child in the midst of trauma. Tree motifs occur throughout the story and are featured in an Ethiopian church forest.