When darkness branches to the soul of a family, light arrives in the form of a strange girl from the backwoods. Tree sprite Scarlet Oak exists as an outlier in her forested society. Wingless since she was very young, she imagines deeper things, longing to know more than a warm bond with her birth oak. Then, one Thanksgiving night, humanness wanders into her realm when an autistic boy hangs himself from her oak tree. Heartbroken, Scarlet trails the boy's father and the rescue workers out of the woods. As the father stands alone and grief-stricken on a dirt road near his beat-up blue truck, Scarlet approaches, offering him a crimson leaf. By doing so, she trades her oak roots for human ones and her forest for farmland in a quest to unearth the tragic secret that led to the boy's death. But soon Scarlet falls for a complex youth named Warren. And if she gives in to this new kind of love, it will strip away her magic, and she can never truly return to her oak or nature's wild. Scarlet Oak is a soulful exploration of our fragile ties with nature, community, and loved ones. It poignantly grapples with how we move through loss to find meaning and connection.

A comprehensive guide to effective hardwood forest management Extending 235,000 square miles from New York to Georgia and fromVirginia to Missouri, the Central Hardwoods Region harbors the mostextensive concentration of deciduous hardwoods in the world. Asharvests in the Pacific Northwest decline and timber prices rise,the maturing stands of mixed species in this central U.S. regionare a rich and valuable resource that is increasingly vulnerable toexploitation. This timely book examines all of the key ecological,social, and economic management considerations essential to utilizeand sustain these vital woodlands effectively. First, it develops the background necessary to understand whatmakes the hardwood eco-system function, with a thorough examinationof the physiography, geology, soils, and climate of the region anda historical overview of its evolution and development frompre-European settlement to the present. Then, species by species,the book details the silvical characteristics of 34 important treespecies. Next, it offers expert recommendations for effectiveforest treatment and management, from specific concerns such astimber production, pollution, and financial planning to broaderissues, including the role of the natural resource manager and thebiological potential of the entire region. Generously supplemented with graphs and photos, Ecology andManagement of Central Hardwood Forests is important reading forforesters, natural resource managers, regional planners,environmental scientists, governmental officials--everyone with astake in the future of this critical living resource.

Set includes revised editions of some issues.