The Distance between Me and the Cherry Tree

By Paola Peretti, Denise Muir (Translator)

A girl hides her blindness, planning to live in a tree as her world darkens.

4.0/5 Goodreads · 5,625 ratings

224 pages· 40,075 words· Est. 5.5 hour read

$18.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

Mafalda, a ten-year-old girl, faces the impending darkness of blindness. As her vision fades, she secretly plans to escape to a cherry tree, inspired by her favorite story. But as her sight diminishes, unexpected clarity emerges. With the support of family and friends, Mafalda learns to see what truly matters. Will she find light in her growing darkness?

From the publisher

Recipient of a Batchelder Honor Ten-year-old Mafalda hides the fact that she is going blind from her family and friends in this lyrical, bittersweet debut novel from Italian author Paola Peretti that shows you how to overcome the darkness–even when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. There are a lot of things ten-year-old Mafalda cares a lot about. Like, counting the stars in the night sky, playing soccer, and climbing the cherry tree outside her school. Mafalda even goes so far as to keep a list of all these things, because soon she won’t be able to do them anymore–because she’s going blind. Even with her bad eyesight Mafalda can see that people are already treating her differently–and that’s the last thing she wants. So, she hides the fact that her vision is deteriorating faster than anyone predicted, and she makes a plan: When the time is right, she’ll go live in the cherry tree, just like her favorite book character. But as Mafalda loses her sight, surprising things come in to focus. With the help of her family and friends both old and new, Mafalda discovers the things that matter most.