The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street

In this powerful report, travel writer Tidwell (The Ponds of Kalambayi) examines how climate change has disrupted the suburban Takoma Park, Md., street where he lives. He excels at explaining global warming’s cascading consequences. For instance, he describes how oak trees on his block had to be cut down after an abnormally large rainfall fueled the spread of underground mold that feasted on the trees’ roots, causing the oaks to emit chemical distress signals that attracted ambrosia beetles who burrowed into the trunks and further eroded their hosts’ health. In poignant profiles of his neighbors, Tidwell discusses how one young woman devastated her parents by revealing she didn’t want to bring kids into a world ravaged by global warming, and how a climate scientist spent much of his savings on a moonshot bid to demonstrate the effectiveness of sequestering carbon by burying dead trees. Elsewhere, Tidwell recounts how he caught Lyme disease because winters are no longer cold enough to kill off ticks, and how his church built an expensive levee to stop frequent flooding in its basement preschool. Tidwell is an excellent reporter whose hyperlocal focus shines light on how the climate crisis shapes the lives of ordinary individuals. This will stick with readers long after they finish the last page. Photos. Agent: Jennifer Lyons, Jennifer Lyons Literary. (Mar.)