Zain asked Angel N. Van Atta:

Why did you choose a four year old to tell the story about what is happening, in In the Tall Trees?

Angel N. Van Atta Thank you so much for the question. I chose that age because that's how old I was when my father kidnapped me from my mother. It was a scary and confusing time for me and most of the issues I struggle with today stem from the abuse by my father and that I witnessed him do onto others. Mella was born from a request by my crisis counselor to find a way to give the child I was the love she never had and so desperately needed and the beginning of that lack of love was when my father stole me away. My mother was fighting Hodgkin's Disease when he took me and she died soon after I was returned. She had been my main source of love and her death left a dark void, not just in me, but everyone around me. I think it was hard for loved ones of hers to fully embrace me after my return because the stress of me being taken by someone whom she knew was abusive in many different ways was too great on her already struggling body and she may have won her battle had it not been for my being taken. Mella is more than just a character on a page. She's my way of rescuing myself from a past that still haunts me and in allowing her to take my hand I've allowed myself to heal in ways I never thought possible. Thank you for walking with her through those tall trees. And thank you for taking her hand when she needed to run.

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