Kaasteek - The Listening Tree

By Da Ka Xeen Clark

The Listening Tree

A story of language, memory, and what continues when no one is there to answer.

She woke to silence.

Not the kind that waits.

The kind that has already moved on.

When Kaasteek steps out of the Box of Moonlight, the world she returns to is still breathing-but no longer waiting. The land remains. The language remains. But something has shifted in how they live among people.

Words arrive differently now.

Silence holds longer than it should.

And what is repeated begins to shape what is believed.

As Kaasteek moves through forest, memory, and gathering voices, she begins to sense a change that cannot be named directly-only followed. What was once carried between people now lingers in patterns, in systems, in the quiet decisions no one remembers making.

This is not a story about learning a language.

It is a story about what happens when language continues-

with or without us.

Blending immersive storytelling with subtle language exposure, The Listening Tree invites readers into a world where meaning is not explained, but experienced-where each word, each silence, and each choice carries weight.

For those returning to language.

For those who never felt fully inside it.

For those who are listening for something they can't yet name.

This is where it begins again.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GW1KTD1L
• ISBN13: 9798295763014
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Silent Drum Press
• Length: 646 Pages
• Weight: 3.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 8.5" x 11.0"
• Age Range: 13 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary