Valerie Aston-Holt

Valerie Aston-Holt is a black ecology professor at the University of North Carolina and a passionate environmentalist. She lives in Oak Knoll with her teenage son, Xavier. Valerie was always passionate about learning and the environment, and excelled greatly in her academic career. Upon graduation, she chose to leave her home state of Michigan to teach in North Carolina, due to the great biodiversity due to its climate, despite her concerns about the racism of Southern United states. She met her late husband, Tom, at the university and falls in love with him despite his whiteness and being from the south. Tom dies when Xavier is just a baby. Other than Xavier, what Valerie loves most in the world is her gardens and the 80-foot oak tree at the edge of her backyard, close to the Whitman’s yard.

Throughout the novel, Valerie’s two major struggles...