Environmental Literature

The often ironic, satirical short stories offer up moral lessons, which pack big ideas into small doses suitable for children and adults. Volume Three (the third of the three volume set) offers 12 "green fables," including "The Flying Squirrel," "The Gardener and the Bugs" and "The Little Bear."

Set against the backdrop of rapidly approaching climate catastrophe, scientists Kate Larkin and Jay Gunesekera are recruited by tech billionaire and mogul Davis Hucken to the forests of Tasmania, Australia. His foundation's mission is not only halting the effects of climate change, but to re-engineer and reverse the damage through the ambitious process of reviving species lost to the earth over time through natural and unnatural means. Including a clandestine ambition to resurrect the Neanderthals.

As fossil fuel prices rise, oil insecurity deepens, and concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging. Wind, solar, and geothermal energy are replacing oil, coal, and natural gas, at a pace and on a scale we could not have imagined even a year ago. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, we have begun investing in energy sources that can last forever. Plan B 4.0 explores both the nature of this transition to a new energy economy and how it will affect our daily lives.

You've probably heard the story of the garden of Eden - the paradise that God created for humans to live in. There was plenty of room for everyone, there were trees and flowers and plenty of food. When you look out your window today you don't see the paradise God intended for us. This world is crowded, polluted, and headed for trouble.But it's not hopeless.

Inspired by environmental activism, Tiger Work blends fiction, essay and poetry to make a powerful and very personal appeal for change. If we continue to live as we do now, Ben Okri argues in this evocative collection, there will be no world left for us to fix. He imagines messages, sent to us from beyond the end, from those who saw it coming—from Africa, Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world—exhorting us to change now. This is a collection comprising two poems and six prose pieces—three short stories, an essay, a letter, and an interview.

Hope Jahren is an award-winning scientist, a brilliant writer, a passionate teacher, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. In The Story of More, she illuminates the link between human habits and our imperiled planet. In concise, easy-to-understand chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions—from electric power to large-scale farming to automobiles—that, even as they help us, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere like never before.

River Rules is a small-town environmental suspense novel with a deep heart and powerful conscience. What the housing bubble didn’t break in Bridgeville - a small New England community blessed by the Connecticut River - greed, double-dealing, and rapid-fire change just might. Peter Russo, a part-time farmer and full-time rambler with his rescue dog, has a knack for conflict, and a burning desire to protect Bridgeville’s land and water from exploitation.

Lupé might be the very last Guadalupe petrel alive, and he knows the best way to save his flock is to find the Islands of Life and a mate. The problem is the well-meaning man-flock that's decided to keep him safe...in a cage. But Lupé has hatched an escape plan all his own! Told in a "Disneyesque" style, A Wing and a Prayer will have you smiling and laughing as you're introduced to wonderful characters but also important themes, especially the environment.

Story: A little wind turbine is separated from his family, develops a squeak, and is vandalized. But when a nasty storm plunges the nearby town into blackout, he saves the day and wins lots of new friends. A tale of triumph over adversity, eco-tainment for a young family.

Meet Gigantic, the smallest blue whale in the Atlantic. Dwarfed by the other whales, Gigantic keeps to himself, making new friends and perfecting his somersaults and flips in the bay. But one day when Gigantic’s brother, Titan, gets stuck on the sand, it’s down to Gigantic and his smallest sea creature friends to save the day. Can they show it’s possible to be tiny and tough?

When medical waste washes ashore ruining their beach, the World Patrol Kids track down the criminals causing the problem. The World Patrol Kids are a multi-ethnic crime-solving, environmental singing-and-dancing kids group (aged 10-14) who take on polluters, climate change, and traffickers of endangered species.

An epic struggle over land, water, and power is erupting in the American West and the halls of Washington, DC. It began when a 4,000-square-mile area of Arizona desert called Black Mesa was divided between the Hopi and Navajo tribes. To the outside world, it was a land struggle between two fractious Indian tribes; to political insiders and energy corporations, it was a divide-and-conquer play for the 21 billion tons of coal beneath Black Mesa. Today, that coal powers cheap electricity for Los Angeles, a new water aqueduct into Phoenix, and the neon dazzle of Las Vegas.

"Bring back the lynx? Over my dead body!" A mutter passed through the crowd of environmental protestors, and Rory stepped forward. "Your hunting has destroyed our hills and left them treeless wastes, devoid of wildlife. It’s time that changed." Lord Purdey’s lip curled in a sneer. "Listen, you lentil-eating cat lover, Scotland is owned by me and men like me. If we want to kill anything that moves and bulldoze your beloved hills flat, we will."

What if we shared planet Earth with other intelligent species? What if inter-species communication were really possible? Seek out some answers in Turtle Dolphin Dreams... An extremely unusual work of fiction in which three creatures, a turtle, a dolphin, and a human, link minds through dreams to bring a unique perception of the world. Most of the narration is by the turtle (via the human) and the dolphin's voice comes through both turtle and human, yet somehow this strange book hangs together and holds the listener's attention. 

King of the mountain - that’s Arnold Markowitz. His mountaintop home is a peaceful stretch of land covered with orchards, wild flowers, and towering trees. But there isn’t much room left for beauty these days as a land-development corporation is intent on surrounding his paradise with a sprawling shopping mall. With Markowitz taking on the powers that be, this classic tale takes unexpected twists and turns. 

Earth Prose combines two environment-related pieces of writing. "Return to Clinch River" mixes the tale of a canoe trip down a biodiverse river with subtle undertones of concern for protecting the natural world. The "Five Stages of Climate Grief" layers five poems with narrative around the 2012 hurricance, Hurricane Sandy.

Mr. Fish and his friends have noticed something strange in their ocean - a big, big mess! How did it get there? What can they do about it? The closer they look, the more they see where the mess came from...and they'll have to work together to get rid of it.

Pyn-Poi's mother Marak wants her to grow up to be the matriarch of the tribe, learning how to cook, to make medicines, how to care for everyone, but Pyn-Poi would rather be out among the trees like her father Sook-Sook, learning how persuade tree roots into bridges, to feel when shoots are too crowded, when drooping leaves need attention. Then something starts going wrong in The Real: when the rains come, instead of nourishment, they bring a noxious stench that's poisoning people and plants alike.

Rainbow Grey may be only ten years old but the future of the whole world depends on her! It’s up to Ray to defeat Tornadia Twist—the greatest villain that ever lived. Ray has to figure out what her ultimate magical gift is and use this power to stop Tornadia before she destroys the Weatherlands and Earth. With epic adventures, magic galore and everything at stake, the battle for the skies is ON!

Theo lives and works in Agbogbloshie in Ghana, a vast dumping ground for the world’s broken electronics. He spends his days scouring the trash for scraps of metal to sell for cash, while dreaming of going to school and escaping this harsh life. The money Theo makes is barely enough to pay for lessons, so when Emmanuel turns up with talk of buried treasure, Theo sees a chance to get out of Trashland. But Emmanuel’s presence draws the attention of a local gang, and Theo starts to wonder if his new friend is keeping dangerous secrets.