Paulinha and the Lady of the Tree - Livres de poche

Little Paulinha is living happily with her parents on their coffee farm in Brazil. The world changes for Paulinha when her mother dies and her father marries a woman named Aneti. As it turns out, Aneti is not the loving person she had portrayed herself to be. She is a callous, jealous woman determined to make Paulinha's life miserable. In order to accomplish her objective, she places an unrealistic fear into Paulinha's head - the fear of her father getting sick and dying. This fear keeps Paulinha from complaining to her father about all the nasty, spiteful things that Aneti is doing to her.

On the coffee farm, there is a large old tree where Paulinha's mother would read stories to her while sitting on one of its large roots. Paulinha's mother told her the tree has special majic. After her mother died, Paulinha continues to go to the tree, as she feels much comforted there. One day, after enduring one of Aneti's mean-spirited attacks, the Lady of the Tree appears to Paulinha and a strong bond quickly forms between them. From that moment on, whenever Aneti would do one of her nasty deeds, the Lady counsels Paulinha as to how to cope. Gradually, Paulinha's fractured self-esteem is healed.

The climax comes when Paulinha must choose between her fear of her father getting sick and dying and the reality of the real hurt that would come to her father if she continues as she has been doing.