Guided Reading Questions -

Elias walked the line of trees alone. He passed the old silver maple, then the twin reds, until he reached the last tree—a giant sugar maple his great-grandmother had planted. Its trunk was wider than his outstretched arms. He pressed his palm to the bark.

“Too warm,” Elias’s father said, wiping his forehead in mid-March. “The sap isn’t running.” guided reading questions

“We could leave,” Elias said at breakfast. Elias walked the line of trees alone

His father stared into his coffee. “Your great-grandmother’s tree can’t move.” He pressed his palm to the bark

No drip. No rhythm.

The next morning, Elias woke before dawn. Frost glittered on the grass. He ran to the sugar bush. From the spile in the old maple, a single drop fell. Then another. He cupped his hand under the flow—cold, clear, sweet.

That night, Elias searched online: Why do maple trees stop producing sap? Climate change. Unseasonable heat. Shifting freeze-thaw cycles. He read that some farmers were moving operations north, chasing the cold.