This upper elementary/middle grade novel is perfect for anyone navigating loss and grief, especially early stages of this circuitous journey. 10 year old Ayla uses various coping strategies, including denial, to deal with the loss of her nonbinary best friend, Kiri. Ayla’s neighborhood plants trees for people when they’re born or when they die. The tree metaphor is woven throughout the story, how roots reach for each other across distances, how trees share resources. Readers, even younger ones, will easily see how we are also like trees.  Early on, a rotary phone is placed in a tree and neighbors take turns calling and talking to loved ones who’ve passed on. (This book is inspired by a phone booth in Japan nicknamed “phone of the wind”, detailed in the author’s note.) Who hasn’t wished they could talk to a loved one, just one more time?  One of the characters, a 5 year old, calls his gecko, which young readers will relate to if they’ve lost a pet.  Ayla’s family and neighbors give her space to move toward a place of acceptance. This is a sparse, heartfelt story about a community watching out for each other. Ayla takes the time that she needs to accept her friend’s passing, while bearing witness to how others around her deal with their grief. The author dedicates this book to “all readers missing the voices of their loved ones.” It’ll speak to readers of all ages. Highly recommended.