On April 22nd every year, over one billion people celebrate Earth Day worldwide. It marks the start of the Environmental movement in 1970 that created the United States Environmental Protection Agency which was responsible for policy changes and a greater awareness of the environment. This has been maintained for the last 51 years, and as it encourages us to protect the environment, will be celebrated for many years to come.
At October Books we want to share a selection of Young Adult titles that highlight the importance of protecting our environment and inform people of new ways - no matter how small they may be - that will help transform our attitude towards the environment.
When the World Runs Dry: Earth’s Water Crisis, by Nancy F. Castaldo.
Through a journey of discovery about the importance of clean water, Castaldo shows how anyone, of any age, can help make a difference in the world. This book addresses the problems of pollution, rising sea levels, water supply issues and how we can potentially help solve them.
Touch the Earth, by Julian Lennon
Heal the Earth, by Julian Lennon
Love the Earth, by Julian Lennon
To bring the faraway world to younger children, this series uses illustrations of the environment and the world around us. With ideas for how to bring medicine to people in need, give animals a home, build schools, clean the oceans, and more, these books engage younger readers and teach them about environmental problems. This interactive book takes us on a fun adventure by showing us how to save the Earth.
You can Change the World: The Kids’ Guide to a Better Planet, by Lucy Bell
Packed with lots of information, ideas, and activities for everyday sustainability, You Can Change the World empowers kids everywhere to make a change for the better in their lives and communities in order to make a positive difference in the world!
The Story of More: How we got to Climate Change and Where to go From Here, by Hope Jahren
Hope Jahren, the award- winning geobiologist, uses this novel to illuminate the link between human consumption habits and our planet. She takes us through the science behind key inventions and explains the current problems we face within the environment and how we can help fix them.
Code Blue, by Marissa Slaven
This fiction book follows the story of Atlantic Brewer whose home is threatened by rising sea levels. When she starts attending an Academy she meets new friends who share her pledge to save human civilization. On her journey she discovers a note that makes her question her father’s death. In a world that is killing its inhabitants, Atlantic finds herself and her friends in a fight for their own survival.
The New Wilderness, by Diane Cook
Bea’s daughter, Agnes, is wasting away. Her lungs shutting down from the smog and pollution from the overpopulated metropolis they call home. Their only alternative is to build a life in the untamed land called The Wilderness State. Nobody has ever ventured there before but that’s about to change. But Bea soon discovers that saving Agnes’ life might also mean losing her.
How Beautiful We Were, by Imbolo Mbue
In the fictional African village of Kosawa, people live in fear in an environment that is degrading because of an American Oil Company. Farmlands are infertile and children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations are broken, so the people of Kosawa decide to fight back! But it will come at a price that generations will have to pay…
Within all of these books, despite their obvious differences, they each have one thing in common and that is that to save ourselves we must first save the environment. What good is a world that’s uninhabitable? By reading about our current situation, we will be able to learn more, and learning more means we can help. Joining in with the Earth Day celebrations will lead to discovering how loving the environment can lead to saving it.
