GABRIEL

In this novel, a little squirrel decides to embark on a bold journey.

Fitzgerald (Poor Richard’s Lament, 2011, etc.) offers a charming story “for Adults and Near-Adults” about a squirrel named Gabriel Maplewood, who lives in a tree with his mother, stepfather, and sister. He goes to school with a bunch of other students. In some ways, Gabriel is a normal kid: He deals with bullies; he reads; and he idolizes the great pawnut (think football, only with nuts) player Scurry McMurry. But Gabriel has some inner yearnings that set him apart from his peers and make him a puzzle to his parents. As the book opens, for instance, he has the nerve to ask Reverend Willow whether or not the Great Rodent (God, but with a tail) can create something even more powerful than himself. In addition, Gabriel dreams of bigger things. He writes a fan letter to Scurry and then decides to seek him out in person, leaving his home and traveling deep into the Forest of the Towering Pines, where the star’s team is headquartered. Gabriel’s odyssey brings him into contact with a wise teacher squirrel named Mister Tim, who begins to impart bits of wisdom like “Many look for happiness at the end of the rainbow. Those who find it look no further than the rainbow itself.” These kinds of koan-like aphorisms occur in the fable far more often than simply from the mouth of Mister Tim; every facing page of the novel is a motto in a heart-shaped outline. Gauzy (and often slightly nonsensical) sentiments like “We embrace truth not so much with our reason as with our courage,” “Possibility is the mother of all hope,” and “Better to pick a pocket than to betray a trust” appear here. These often disrupt what is otherwise a smooth and inviting animal allegory about spirit and curiosity.

A warmhearted parable featuring a plucky squirrel who tackles life’s big issues.