Tree Huggers by Leanne Statland Ellis

 I related to the characters because we all know how it feels to really want something...

The trees in Alex’s neighborhood are being cut down by the town government, and she and her friend Josh don’t like it. They decide to join BUST, Belwood United to Save the Trees, a group of people who are trying to save the final few trees that are still standing. But what’s a girl to do when no one is listening or seems to care? When your favorite tree in the whole world, Luna, is about to be hacked to the ground, and you kind of like your friend Josh as more than a friend and have some stiff competition from the pretty, shiny-haired Hailey, another girl who has joined the group to get closer to Josh? Josh is ready to chain himself to the trees in protest, but how far is Alex willing to go to save her beloved Luna?

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  <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>Normal001140803Royal Fireworks Press6198610.2006</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>000</xml><![endif]-->Leanne Statland Ellis wrote Tree Huggers because she has encountered countless students who care deeply about the environment and want to take action to help in any way they can. When she was a teacher in Los Angeles, Leanne and her students studied the environment and became citizen foresters, often volunteering their time to plant trees with a local  nonprofit organization. Many of the events in this book are true.

She has seen firsthand the force of children’s passions and actions, and she wrote this book to remind children everywhere that they are powerful people who should never be told that they can’t make a difference because they are “just kids”.

Leanne is now a teacher of the gifted in Lincolnwood, Illinois, where she grew up. She is a talented musician and has a master's degree in education. Among her most exciting teaching assignments were the summer science programs in Hawaii, the Galapagos Islands, Alaska and Midway Island. She has also been the recipient of Earthwatch grants to study in India and Kenya.

Her most recent passion, with her current students, is to alert the world to the terrible effect of plastics in the oceans. 

The Lincolnwood Review has written about the author and Tree Huggers, September 20, 2010. In the article some of Leanne Ellis's 11 year-old students were quoted:

Nick liked the suspense that kept him anxious to know what would happen next. And he especially enjoyed the twists and turns in the plot that kept him guessing whether the tree-huggers plan would work or not.

Tiara liked the message -- that children can change the world -- Ellis sent through the main characters, Alex and Josh.

 "I related to the characters because we all know how it feels to really want something," said Kosta.

 "I related to the main character's best friend, Josh, because he was going straight forward to rescue Luna, even though he was risking going to jail," said Julia. "That's what I would do, too, without a doubt."

 But Eden said she related more to the main character, Alex, because she didn't want to get into trouble.