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Ecology Book Club: The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue

A Story of Climate and Hope on One American St, Mike Tidwell

This adult book club discusses books on human ecology, sustainable living, environmental justice and post-fossil fuel futures. Books can be nonfiction, fiction or poetry.

This month we will be discussing The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street by Mike Tidwell.

"A riveting and elegant story of climate change on one city street, full of surprises and true stories of human struggle and dying local trees - all against the national backdrop of 2023's record heat domes and raging wildfires and hurricanes. In 2023, author and activist Mike Tidwell decided to keep a record for a full year of the growing impacts of climate change on his one urban block right on the border with Washington, DC. A love letter to the magnificent oaks and other trees dying from record heat waves and bizarre rain, Tidwell's story depicts the neighborhood's battle to save the trees and combat climate change: The midwife who builds a geothermal energy system on the block, the Congressman who battles cancer and climate change at the same time, and the Chinese-American climate scientist who wants to bury billions of the world's dying trees to store their carbon and help stabilize the atmosphere. The story goes beyond ailing trees as Tidwell chronicles people on his block sick with Lyme disease, a church struggling with floods, and young people anguishing over whether to have kids, all in the same neighborhood and all against the global backdrop of 2023's record heat domes and raging wildfires and hurricanes. Then there's Tidwell himself who explores the ethical and scientific questions surrounding the idea of "geoengineering" as a last-ditch way to save the world's trees - and human communities everywhere - by reflecting sunlight away from the planet. No book has told the story of climate change this way: hyper local, full of surprises, full of true stories of life and death in one neighborhood. The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue is a harrowing and hopeful proxy for every street in America and every place on Earth."

Note that Mike Tidwell will give an author talk at Cleveland Park Library on Tuesday, June 30 at 6 pm. Book club participants are encouraged to attend if interested.

Email rachel.white@dc.gov:

• For help finding a copy of The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue. You can also ask for a copy at the front desk of Cleveland Park Library — limited extra copies are available for book club participants until they run out. (This is the best way to obtain a copy in time to read it beforehand.)
• To receive updates about future book club meetings
• For other information

Registration is optional but encouraged for new participants.

If you would like to request an accommodation, please contact dcplaccess@dc.gov at least one week prior to the program.

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