The Hollow Tree is a children's

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 historical novel

Historical novel

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...

 by Janet Lunn

Janet Lunn

Janet Louise Lunn, is a Canadian children's writer.Born in Dallas, Texas, she moved with her family to Vermont when she was an infant. In 1938, she moved again to the outskirts of New York, New York. In 1946, she came to Canada to attend Queen’s University and married a fellow student, Richard...

. The book is the third in a trilogy, the first two being The Root Cellar

The Root Cellar

The Root Cellar is a children's historical novel by Janet Lunn. It won the 1982 Canada Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award. In 1988 the book won the California Young Reader Medal-Plot:...

and Shadow on Hawthorne Bay. Having progressed backward from the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 in The Root Cellar, another few decades in Shadow on Hawthorne Bay, The Hollow Tree takes place during the starting of the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 in 1777.

Plot Overview

Plump little Phoebe Olcott is a timid but helpful 15-year-old girl, admired by her father's students for her quiet temperament and stubbornness. After her father, a schoolteacher, is killed in action while fighting as a Patriot (commonly known as rebels) in the quick revolution, she ends up living with her aunt's family, who happen to be Loyalist

Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...

.

Phoebe continues to hide in the shadows of her cousins Gideon and Anne Robinson until Gideon becomes a British soldier. When he is suddenly found hung, Phoebe discovers that Gideon was actually a spy and finds a list of names that was entrusted to Gideon and must be delivered to Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century fort built by the Canadians and the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in upstate New York in the United States...

.

She arrives at Fort Ticonderoga too late; the post has been abandoned. Instead, she finds a bear and a cat, and meets Jem Morrissay, whose family happens to be one of the names on the list entrusted to Gideon. Phoebe and Jem form an uneasy relationship and she is reunited with her family and several other Loyalist families fleeing to Upper Canada

Upper Canada

The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...

 to avoid persecution

Persecution

Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another group. The most common forms are religious persecution, ethnic persecution, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these terms. The inflicting of suffering, harassment, isolation,...

 from American Patriot

Patriot (American Revolution)

Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...

s.

During the flight of the Loyalists, they capture Jaspet Oram, a Loyalist soldier, and are uncertain if he is a deserter or a rebel spy. The leader of the group insists that the soldier be taken to Canada and hanged. When Phoebe's own convictions, background, and morals clash the more radical of the Loyalists, she soon finds herself isolated from the rest of the group. She secretly cuts Jasphet loose and runs away, but is pursued by Jem.

Despite their growing attraction to one another, Phoebe refuses to return to the other Loyalists with Jem. Forced to continue alone, it begins Phoebe's dangerous journey to Canada in order to escape the revolution and fulfill Gideon's final mission.