A Full, Rich Read - Toby Alone

Toby Alone by Timothee de Fombelle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of my favourite reads so far this year. I must have borrowed this book about 4 times before I actually read it. When I finally did open it, I could hardly put it down. I am planning on making my kids read it, through gentle suggestion and subliminal messages, of course :) Toby Alone also fits beautifully into my environmental awareness program - the one I now plan to start!

Essentially the story of a boy abandonded by his people, Toby Alone touches on several universal themes including social class, capitalism and big business, the need to protect our environment, and appreciating the value of each and every human being.

The Tree, home to Toby and his people, symbolizes through its physical structure, the social hierarchy of the people who dwell within it. Toby's parents marriage, for example, is a rarity as his parents come from different branches of the Tree. When Toby's family is exiled, they are sent from the Treetop to live in the Low Branches, the names say it all.

As we uncover more of Toby's personal history, we witness the effects of big business and capitalism gone out of control. Big Mitch's mafia-like way of doing business combined with his single vision of dominance over all cast fear into the heart of any responsible citizen. What Big Mitch fails to see is that his "progress" is destroying the very Tree in which they live and upon which their survival depends.

In contrast to Big Mitch, we have Toby's father, the professor. The professor, good scientist that he is, is already beginning to understand much about the way in which the Tree provides for them. His ideas that the Tree itself is a living organism and that there may indeed be life beyond the Tree are considered controversial at best. The Tree people felt threatened by such crazy ideas.

As Toby's journey takes him to the Low Branches, back up the Treetop, down again, and eventually beyond the Tree completely, he meets many different types of people. These encounters help Toby to develop his own opinions about people and human relationships, including the meaning of friendship and loyalty.

Full of adventure, creativity and resourcefulness, Toby Alone gives us tremendous insight into the human condition. Who are we and what, exactly, are we doing here? I can't wait to read the next instalment Toby and the Secrets of the Tree!

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