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By Timothee de Fombelle

Illustrated by Francois Place and translated by Sarah Ardizzone

Candlewick Press, 2009

$17.99, ages 9-12 , 384 pages

Toby Lolness, a nimble boy no taller than a crumb, flees the hatred of his people in this fast-paced Lilliputian adventure set in the branches of an oak tree.

At 7 years old, Toby is exiled with his parents, Maya and Sim, from the top of the Tree to the Low Branches, when Sim, a great scientist, refuses to share an invention that would lead to the destruction of the tree, a black box that converts the Tree's sap into energy.

Sim believes the Tree is alive and a project headed by weevil breeder Joe Mitch to tunnel out its trunk is putting it in peril. He fears his black box would speed up mining of the tree's sap, but to the Tree's council, which is increasingly under Mitch's thumb, Sim's refusal to share his discovery is heresy.

After several years of exile in the Land of Onessa, Maya learns that her mother, Mrs. Alnorell, has died and returns with Sim and Toby to the Treetop at the request of Sim's old friend Zef Clarac, the Treetop lawyer. When they arrive, Zef hands Maya a rare, expensive Tree Stone, which belonged to Mrs. Alnorell. The stone, though it has no powers, is the tree's treasure and would give absolute power to Mitch and his men if they got control over it.

Just as the Lolness family is about to leave for the Low Branches, Mitch and his men ambush them at Zef's house and demand the stone. But thanks to Sim's quick wits, Toby, now 13, is able to slip out of Mitch's clutches with the stone, setting off a terrifying manhunt for Toby through the Tree.

With a bounty on his head and his parents in a dungeon in the Treetop, Toby flees to the Low Branches, and along the way discovers the loyalties of two old friends, is nearly fed to weevils, rescues a friend who has become Mitch's whipping boy, is swarmed by mosquitoes and is betrayed by a family he once trusted.

Eventually Toby makes his way to his dear friend Elisha's house in the Low Branches, where she hides him in a cave, then watches helplessly as he becomes trapped inside by a snow storm. Toby survives until spring, but learns that his parents are going to be executed, and he and Elisha concoct a plan to free them, only to have it backfire and tear their friendship apart.

Hearing that his parents have already been killed and thinking Elisha has betrayed him, Toby is ready to give up on life and as a fire sweeps over the prison he thought his parents were in, he finds himself falling off the Tree into the hands of the feared Grass People, who are believed to be planning an invasion of the Tree.

French playwright de Fombelle creates a fascinating, fun adventure while skillfully weaving in political commentary in this first book in a series translated from French. If your child loved the Littles or the Borrowers, they'll be enthralled by Toby's world and find it hard to wait for the next installment.