Toby Alone facts for kids
Toby Alone, originally called La Vie suspendue (which means A Life Suspended), is an exciting children's book written by French author Timothée de Fombelle. The English version, translated by Sarah Ardizzone, won a special award called the 2009 Marsh Award. This book also has a sequel, or follow-up story, called Toby and the Secrets of the Tree.
The Story of Toby's Adventure
Part One: Life in the Oak Tree
Toby Lolness is a 13-year-old boy who is super tiny, only about one and a half millimeters tall! He lives in a whole world built inside a giant oak tree. When Toby was seven, his dad, a scientist named Sim, invented a cool black box. This box could make toys move by using the tree's sap, which is like the tree's blood. But when Sim wouldn't tell anyone his secret, he and his family were sent away to live in the Lower Branches of the tree. That's where Toby first met his best friend, Elisha Lee.
When Toby turned thirteen, his parents were arrested by a powerful and mean leader named Joe Mitch. Joe Mitch was obsessed with digging huge holes in the tree. He wanted to learn Sim's sap secret for his biggest project, a giant hole called the Big Crater. Toby's parents were thrown into a prison on a mistletoe ball called Tumble. Toby found himself all alone and on the run from his own people. He had to fight to survive. Sadly, his old friend Leo Blue betrayed him. Another friend, Nils Amen, also betrayed him at first, but later pretended to be Toby to help him escape the people searching for him.
Toby traveled through the Big Crater. There, his father's enemy, W. C. Rolok, found him. Rolok tried to make Toby swallow a sap ball, which contained dangerous creatures. Toby cleverly spat the ball into Rolok's throat. He then took Rolok's clothes and gave him a whip to fight off the creatures. As Toby escaped, he met Mano Asseldor, who used to live on a farm in the Lower Branches. They escaped together. Once they reached the Lower Branches, Mano found his family, but he had to hide behind a fireplace. Toby tried to get help from a miller and his wife, the Olmechs. However, they contacted Joe Mitch's soldiers. Toby managed to escape again. The Olmechs were then put in prison for lying.
Part Two: New Friends and Big Plans
Finally, Toby reached the area where Elisha and her mother, Isha, lived. He hid in a cave, and Elisha brought him food every day. When winter arrived, Toby was stuck in the cave for several months because of the snow. He barely survived on Elisha's food and some mildew.
In the spring, Toby and Elisha made a detailed plan to rescue Toby's parents from prison. On the night of the escape, Toby was trapped in a wax cast. He was pretending to be the jailor Gus Alzan's injured daughter, Berenice. Elisha was supposed to break in and rescue him and his parents. But she couldn't get into the prison, which made Toby think she had betrayed him. He escaped when a fire weakened the wax cast. He then released all the water from the cistern, putting out the fire. On his way to find his parents, another prisoner told him a terrible rumor that his parents were gone. The prisoner also said Elisha had hurt his hand. Not believing this, Toby went to his parents' cell. Instead, he found the Olmechs there. Their son, Lex, was trying to rescue them.
Toby gave Lex the key to his parents' chains. He then walked to the end of a mistletoe branch, planning to jump off. But he heard a bird squawking. He decided to burrow into one of the berries and let the bird eat it. The bird carried him away, and he passed out. When he woke up, he was alive in the grass. A young boy named Moon Boy and his older sister Ilaya took him in. They gave him a new name: Little Tree.
Two years later, Pol Colleen, a neighbor from the Low Branches, visited the grass. He told Toby that he was adopted when he was a baby. He also said his adoptive parents were still alive. Pol Colleen also shared that Elisha, whose mother was once a grass woman, was now held prisoner by Leo Blue. Leo Blue had become a harsh leader and wanted to marry Elisha. Toby decided to go back to the Tree to save her. He succeeded thanks to a rescue plan that involved great risks and sacrifices from many.
