If We Were Giants, Clete Barrett Smith and Dave Matthews

For May’s Turning the Tide spotlight, I was thrilled to ask Clete Barrett Smith about his work with Dave Matthews (yes, that Dave Matthews) on their new children’s book If We Were Giants. Just published a couple months ago, this book is aimed toward a middle-grade audience, but all ages […]

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August 9 – Our 8th Anniversary & Survey Results!

Though this site was in the makings in July of 2013, the first post was August 9th that year. Even that earlier material was a continuation of a list of novels I had already published at BC Rainforest (which is no longer in existence). I had no idea back then […]

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The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson

From the visionary, New York Times bestselling author of New York 2140 comes a near-future novel that is a gripping exploration of climate change, technology, politics, and the human behaviors that drive these forces. Goodreads Reviews Back to GoodReads

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Stay and Fight, Madeline Ffitch

Set in a region known for its independent spirit, Stay and Fight shakes up what it means to be a family, to live well, to make peace with nature and make deals with the system. It is a protest novel that challenges our notions of effective action. It is a […]

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Deep River, Karl Marlantes

Layered with fascinating historical detail, this is a novel that breathes deeply of the sun-dappled forest and bears witness to the stump-ridden fields the loggers, and the first waves of modernity, leave behind. At its heart, Deep River is an extraordinarily ambitious exploration of the place of the individual, and […]

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Watershed, Doreen Vanderstoop

Despite its decade-long gestation, Watershed is both timely and urgent as it imagines a semi-dystopian future in Alberta brought on by climate change. In the year 2058, the glaciers have vanished and a catastrophic drought has plunged the prairies into despair. –Calgary Herald Goodreads Reviews Back to GoodReads

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2020 Earth Day Celebrations

As a firm believer that every day is Earth Day, I also celebrate this one day a year that is devoted to our Mama Earth. It’s kind like loving my own mom all the time but paying special attention to her on Mother’s Day. April 22, 2020, marks the 50th […]

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Side Chick Nation, Aya de León

Click here to return to the series About the Book I was drawn to this book after reading Anna Burke’s Compass Rose, which tied Hurricanes Maria and Irma to climate change, albeit it had a different approach (science fiction and fantasy) as opposed to Aya’s novel Side Chick Nation (contemporary […]

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Barn 8, Deb Olin Unferth

Funny, whimsical, philosophical, and heartbreaking, Barn 8 ultimately asks: What constitutes meaningful action in a world so in need of change? Unferth comes at this question with striking ingenuity, razor-sharp wit, and ferocious passion. Barn 8 is a rare comic-political drama, a tour de force for our time. Goodreads Reviews […]

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Accidentals, Susan M. Gaines

When Gabriel’s immigrant mother returns to her native Uruguay, he takes a break from his uninspiring job to accompany her. Immersed in his squabbling family, birdwatching in the wetlands on their abandoned ranch, and falling in love with a local biologist, he makes discoveries that force him to contend with […]

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Hold Back the Tide, Melinda Salisbury

Everyone knows what happened to Alva’s mother, all those years ago. But when dark forces begin to stir in Ormscaula, Alva has to face a very different future – and question everything she thought she knew about her past, Goodreads Reviews Back to GoodReads

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Migrations, Charlotte McConaghy

Propelled by a narrator as fierce and fragile as the terns she is following, Migrations is a shatteringly beautiful ode to the wild places and creatures now threatened. But at its heart, it is about the lengths we will go, to the very edges of the world, for the people […]

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The Rain Heron

Robbie Arnott’s The Rain Heron [is] described by its publishers as an “ecological fable. –INews UK Goodreads Reviews Back to GoodReads

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The Inland Sea, Madeleine Watts

Written with down-to-earth lucidity and ethereal breeziness, this is an unforgettable debut about coming of age in a world that seems increasingly hostile. Watts explores feminine fear, apathy and danger, building to a tightly controlled bushfire of ecological and personal crisis. Goodreads Reviews Back to GoodReads

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