Books with title People Like Us

When 13 year old Creed Norman asked his teacher if a tree could possibly cry when someone chopped it with an axe, she replied, "No Creed. Trees have no organ or actual part with which to make sound. They have no voice. They cannot cry. Other trees have no hearing organs. They can't hear. There is a pseudoscience that may embrace talking trees, but they also believe in bigfoot, aliens, and time travel. Thinking a tree can cry is called anthropomorphism. It means that we transfer human characteristics onto plants, animals, or inanimate objects." The teacher was fascinated with the young man's question saying, "Creed, if there is now a tree genetically capable of feeling emotions and speaking, I don't know of anyone who has heard it. . .do you know of anyone?" "Yes I do," Creed responded with a quiet confidence. "It's me. I heard a tree. I heard a tree cry."