The Letterbox Tree
Age 8+
General Fiction
Two of Australia’s most acclaimed and high profile writers co-author a sensitive and ultimately hopeful story about our growing climate crisis.
Nyx lives in the Tasmania of 2091 – deforested, over-mined and affected by bushfires and drought. With sea-levels rising, Tasmania is marooned and abandoned to its fate. Nyx’s widowed father wants them to leave while they can, but for Nyx, West Hobart is all she has ever known, and where her mother is buried. She finds solace in the single living tree on the dusty reserve near her home, an 80-foot pine that has defied odds and survived the climate crisis.
Bea lives in present, beautiful, Tasmania and is facing a move to the mainland. She will miss the giant tree that she climbs to seek solace from bullies. One day she leaves a despairing note, the words pouring out her troubles, stuffed in a hole in its trunk. Nyx finds the note, and writes back. The girls begin a correspondence across two different time periods and they form a friendship that defies the logic of time. When Nyx faces life threatening fire and then floods, she must turn to her friend Bea to change the future.
Creators
Rebecca Lim is an award-winning writer, illustrator and editor and the author of over twenty books, including Tiger Daughter (a Victorian Premier's Literary Award-winner), The Astrologer's Daughter (A Kirkus Best Book and CBCA Notable Book) and the bestselling Mercy. Her work has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Queensland Literary Awards, CBCA Book of the Year Awards and Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, shortlisted multiple times for the Aurealis Awards and Davitt Awards, and longlisted for the Gold Inky Award, the Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award and the David Gemmell Legend Award. She is a co-founder of Voices from the Intersection and co-editor of Meet Me at the Intersection, a groundbreaking anthology of YA #OwnVoice memoir, poetry and fiction.
Kate Gordon grew up in a very bookish house, in a small town by the sea in Tasmania. After studying performing arts and realising she was a terrible actor, Kate decided to become a librarian. She never stopped writing and, in 2009, she applied for and won a Varuna fellowship, which led to all sorts of lovely writer things happening. Kate's first book, Three Things About Daisy Blue, was published in 2010. Her most recent publications are the middle-grade novels in the "Direleafe Hall" series, and Aster’s Good, Right Things, which won the CBCA Book of the Year for Younger Readers.
Reviews
In The Letterbox Tree, two acclaimed children’s writers have teamed up for the first time to write a platonic, cli-fi version of The Lakehouse, crafting a tense and pacy story of friendship and survival that spans 70 years… Ultimately, the strong takeaway message is that our actions in the present can affect the future in a profound way and every little bit counts. For Zana Fraillon fans aged 10–14 who are willing to be a little confronted.
Books + Publishing
Told through alternating voices of both Nyx and Bea, this is a story of friendship, climate change and having the courage to make a difference. It will be enjoyed by those in middle to upper primary.
Lamont Books
The Letterbox Tree is a beautifully written novel by Australian authors Rebecca Lim and Kate Gordon… The characters were well-written and the story was so heartfelt. As I am a young adult who is concerned about climate change, I felt so emotionally connected to this story and the themes it conveys. I would recommend this book to anyone who is seeking hope during times of environmental uncertainty.
Better Reading
I really enjoyed The Letterbox Tree! I really loved the futuristic aspects of it, and I am particularly fond of books with multiple character perspectives. The Letterbox Tree has funny, relatable, and well-developed characters that bring out the interesting plot lines… This book not only met, but exceeded my expectations… The friendship of Bea and Nix is a magical, amazing thing. Everyone deserves to have friends that care about them like Bea and Nix care about each other. The Letterbox Tree is a great story.
Better Reading
The Letterbox Tree contains one of the most important lessons I have ever read on friendship and how what you do in your life now affects those into the future. It is really well written and keeps you questioning and remembering its message long after you have turned the last page.
Better Reading
