Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Young adult fiction Before you start this book, make sure you have a cold glass of water handy! Dry is a multifaceted exploration of a major drought event in Southern California, set in the modern day and entirely realistic feeling. The book follows five main characters, […]
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Turn the Tide Middle Grade Fiction by Elaine Dimopoulos Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen When twelve-year-old Mimi Laskaris moves to Wilford Island, Florida, she immediately falls in love with the beautiful shoreline and its creatures. Then she discovers “ghost bags”—single-use plastic bags that have been left to litter the beaches. Mimi […]
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A Wolf Called Wander Middle Grade Fiction By Roseanne Parry Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Wolf pup Swift, one of five pups born to his mother in the same spring, wonders what pack role he will grow into. His bigger brother, Sharp, is more dominant and already has his eyes on […]
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Paradise on Fire (Middle Grade Fiction) Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Flying cross-country for the first time, fifteen-year-old Addy leaves the Bronx to attend a wilderness camp with five other Black, inner-city kids. Although she’s never experienced life in a rural setting before, Addy takes to it quickly, rising early to […]
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Young Adult Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen High school junior Leila has bounced between group homes and foster homes for her whole life—until her recent adoption. Whenever things felt chaotic in her personal life, Leila found solace in nature. Environmentalism became her passion—so much so that she and her best […]
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Orleans by Sherri L. Smith Young Adult Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Reading novels about the environment requires a certain amount of getting comfortable with potential dystopian futures. For example, it would be extremely difficult to avert a climate crisis without thinking through the logical outcomes of the current course […]
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Depart, Depart by Sim Kern Young Adult Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen The boy first appears to Noah in the moments before Noah’s Houston neighborhood is engulfed by catastrophic flooding. He leads Noah to the relative safety of a parking garage, then disappears. In the wake of the flooding, Noah […]
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Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers, Celia C. Perez Middle Grade Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen In Sabal Palms, Florida, many girls join the Floras, a service organization begun in the early 1900s by some of the founders of the city. Even though her grandmother was a proud […]
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Middle Grade Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Edver and his mother left Cuba when he was just a baby. His father stayed behind and Edver hasn’t seen him since. But when relations between the United States and Cuba finally permit unrestricted travel between the two countries, Edver’s mom sends him […]
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Young Adult Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen During junior year of high school, Liberty expects her focus to be on doing well in school and getting ready for college. Then her mom gets convicted of ecoterrorism and sent to jail, and Liberty finds herself moving to a rural mining town […]
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Middle Grade Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Shuffled off to his aunt and uncle’s house in San Francisco while his mom takes a work assignment in China, everything looks bleak for 12-year-old Julian Carter-Li. No one besides his cousin and his best friend seem to care much about what happens […]
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Young Adult Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen The summer after senior year of high school should be full of magic, but for Julia Ducharme, it’s full of worry. Julia’s younger brother Caleb is still convalescing from a serious illness, her former summer fling has a new girlfriend and to top […]
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Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis Young Adult Fiction Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen From the very first line, Mindy McGinnis sucks the reader into an apocalyptic world in which water–and its scarcity–determines every move made by sixteen-year-old Lynn and her mother Lauren, two women surviving in what’s left […]
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Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Middle grade fiction When Willa’s dad takes her on a whale-watching trip to see the migrating humpbacks, an unexpected thing happens: A whale talks to her. The whale, called Meg, seems as surprised as Willa that the two can understand each other, but they form a […]
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Reviewed by Kimberly Christensen Young Adult Fiction Content Warning: This book includes descriptions of death, depression, attempted suicide, animal poaching, animal cruelty, forced migration, human trafficking, war, genocide, child soldiers, and rape. Following the death of her boyfriend, high school senior Valentine falls into a severe depression and nearly overdoses […]
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