Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis

Written by: Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Malena Ernman, and Beata Ernman

First line: This could have been my story.

Why you should read this book: Svante and Malena, loving and successful Swedish musicians, understood what it was like to be a little different, but when their two daughters, Greta and Beata, both began exhibiting difficulty moving through the world, they had to stretch their understanding to find ways to accommodate neurodiverse kids in an unaccommodating world. While Beata suffered debilitating intolerance to noise, Greta became increasingly despondent over climate change and the fact that the people who should be doing something about it were not. Of course, at the age of fifteen, Greta's "student strike" outside Parliament turns her into one of the most well-known climate activists and inspires countless young people to join her cause. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's very difficult, emotionally speaking: a lot of the book is about how much Greta and Beata suffer before their parents are able to figure out how to keep their sensitive children healthy, and the rest of it is basically about the very dire situation threatening all life on planet Earth right now. 

The Wild Robot Protects

Written by: Peter Brown

First line: Our story begins in the sky, with a bright sun and puffy clouds and a large flock of geese.

Why you should read this book: After returning to her island with her new, improved body, Roz the wild robot hopes to live a peaceful life with her animal friends, until a new threat comes to her home: a poison tide seeping through the ocean, killing all life as it goes. With Brightbill grown and mated and her new grandbabies on the way, Roz is determined to save all her friends, and when she learns that her new body is waterproof, she goes on an underwater journey to seek out a new ally, the Ancient Shark and to find the source of the poison tide. Along the way, she learns from many new animal friends and discovers her own strengths as well as the power of large groups to tackle the problems of large infrastructures.

Why you shouldn't read this book: It's not as good as the first one but I thought it was better than the second one; however, some readers took issue with its progressive messages regarding the environment and gender, so if you're the type of reader who gets bent out of shape by progressive messages regarding environment and gender, maybe this delightful story about a wild robot protecting the planet isn't for you. 

The Girl from the Sea

Written by: Molly Knox Ostertag

First line: It's true, you know.

Why you should read this book: Morgan is just trying to get through high school without drawing too much attention to herself and her deep, dark secret, but all her plans go astray the night she hits her head, falls into the ocean, is rescued by a cute girl, and has her first kiss. Confronting her sexuality and the community's response to it is hard enough, but Morgan's new girlfriend, Keltie, isn't even human: she's a selkie who loves Morgan, but also wants her help averting an ecological crisis that would destroy her seal family. Morgan must own her own fears and desires, conquer her anxiety about her friends and family, and open herself up to the love being offered from all directions.

Why you shouldn't read this book: I guess there are people who want to read queer teen contemporary fantasy romance and people who don't want to read queer teen contemporary fantasy romance. 

Kids Fight Climate Change

Written by: Martin Dorey and Tim Wesson

First line: Calling all future superheroes.

Why you should read this book: Despite the cartoony illustrations and accessible language, this book is not messing around in its mission to convince kids to become true environmental activists in the battle against climate change. It carefully lays out the case for the detrimental impact that human activity has had on the planet and why kids should make behavioral changes to protect their own legacy (and encourage adults around them to do the same). The bulk of the book lays out dozens of "two minute missions" suggesting multiple ways the kids can act now to fight climate change.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you are opposed to being lectured by a child about climate change and environmental activism, you should not give this book to children.

I Love Our Earth

Written by: Bill Martin Jr and Dan Lipow

First line: I love our earth...where green grasses ripple, and gray mountains rise, where blue oceans curl, and brown deserts swirl.

Why you should read this book: A crowd-pleaser for young readers, each page pairs a sweeping panoramic vista or up-close portrait of nature, paired with images of happy, active, multi-cultural children. There aren't a lot of words, but there are a lot of details, and the pictures are both beautiful and yet accessible. This book seems to make kids happy.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You hate our earth.

The Little Book of Snowflakes

Written by: Kenneth Libbrecht

First line: Out of the bosom of the air/Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken.

Why you should read this book: Dozens of stunning macrophotography images are laid out with quotes about the natural world and some basic scientific information about the formation of snow crystals. The photographs, all apparently taken in the field by the author with his "traveling snowflake photomicroscope" are stunning in detail and variety. A perfect gift for a child with a mind for science and beauty, this book does not disappoint.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're getting cold just reading the title.

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai

Written by: Claire A. Nivola

Why you should read this book: A beautiful melding of biography and environmentalism, this is the true story of the life of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan girl who grew up in a lush, tree-covered land, spent five years in America studying biology, and came home to find her country nearly deforested and suffering from poor land stewardship. A one-woman dynamo, she convinced the largely unlettered women of Kenya that they could improve their situation by planting trees--over thirty million of them, at the time of the book's writing--and changed the face of her nation. Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work, and seems to have largely protected her people from privation, but never considered her action brave or extraordinary.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're chopping down truffula trees just as fast as you can.

Beautiful Darkness

Written by: Fabien Vehlmann and Kerascoet

First line: He's coming! He's coming!

Why you should read this book: I am obsessed with this anti-fairy tale about innocent little fairies whose world is turned upside down when they realize they have been living their lives inside a little girl, and that their host has died and is no longer conducive to housing fairies. Thrown out into the wilderness, Princess Aurora does her best to normalize the transition for her subjects, most of whom turn out to be far less altruistic than she. This book offers constant surprises, and while some have criticized the depiction of the fairies as too adorable, their actions and attitudes take the story far from the realm of fairy tale and into the brutish lair of horror. (I have a lot more to say about this book, and my article on the subject is forthcoming at Panels.net.)

Why you shouldn't read this book: You collect Precious Moments figurines or enjoy the comic "Love Is...."

The One and Only Ivan

Written by: Katherine Applegate

First line: I am Ivan.

Why you should read this book: In this remarkable story, Ivan has come to terms with his status as a roadside attraction, a gorilla inhabiting an artificial domain in a circus-themed mall, whose best friends are an elderly elephant and a stray dog. But Stella, the elephant, has a chronic injury and the owner of the mall needs a new attraction, so he acquires Ruby, a baby elephant, who cannot accept her captivity as the other animals have, and whose future seems less certain and less comfortable. Ivan is determined to save Ruby, but if he is to have any hope of succeeding, he must find a way to communicate to humans the plight, and the needs, of wild animals living in captivity.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: It made me cry like crazy—way more of a tearjerker than Bridge to Terebithia—throughout the entire second half of the book.

Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and New England.

Edited by: Jack Zipes

First line: A long time ago in a kingdom by the sea there lived a Princess tall and bright as a sunflower.

Why you should read this book: There is extensive scholarly material included in the introduction and in part three, but most readers can glean the full force of the message by reading the tales, in which the girls and women take center stage, doing the questing, fighting, adventuring and thinking, wherever they need to be done. These princesses find that they can rescue their own princes, or that sometimes the princes aren't worth the bother and they should go off with some other man who appreciates them more, or that men in general aren't what they need at the moment, and they can find perfect happiness on their own. Some of the tales are better for younger readers, and others are more appropriate for a more mature audience, but they all envision a world where women take action, rather than waiting passively to become a prize for someone else.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Still waiting for your prince to come.

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

Written by: Bill McKibben

First line: Imagine we live on a planet. Not our cozy, taken-for-granted earth, but a planet, a real one, with melting poles and dying forests and a heaving, corrosive sea, raked by winds, strafed by storms, scorched by heat. An inhospitable place.

Why you should read this book: Global warming, the author's data shows, is not a possible threat for our grandchildren, but a reality that has already begun transforming our lovely blue planet into a hot, dangerous, alien world. Climate change has been set into motion, and all calculations show that we have already surpassed the maximum level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (that would be 350 parts per million) necessary to keep thing comfy and verdant. After presenting pages and pages of chilling and disturbing evidence that we've screwed nature and she's going to screw us right back, McKibben describes what we need to do to survive on this new planet: cutting energy usage, investing in renewable, sustainable energy resources, and pulling back from unchecked and dangerous growth and globalization to create vibrant, functional, and self-reliant communities based agriculture, energy, and human networks (don't worry; we get to keep the Internet).

Why you shouldn't read this book: Possibly the most depressing work I have ever read; if you're enamored of your denial and think that oil and fossil fuels are the future, taking this book seriously could come as a real boot to the head.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Author: Judi Barrett

First line: We were all sitting around the big kitchen table.

Why you should read this book: Let’s set the record straight--Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was originally published in 1978, back when it was understood that healthy children should exercise their imaginations, rather than having their fantasies computer-generated and spoon fed to them while they sat motionless, with their jaws hanging slack. This book is a story-within-a-story, in which a funny breakfast mishap inspires a loving grandfather to create his own fantastic bedtime-story world for his grandkids. The delicious and dangerous world of Chewandswallow, where food falls from the sky, is both magical and prosaic, a story that, hopefully, will never lose its timelessness, or be overshadowed by flashy adaptations.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: Flat, motionless, two-dimensional drawings are too old-school for you.

The Guide to Self-Sufficiency

Author: John Seymour

First line: In the lives we lead today, we take much for granted, and few of us indeed remember why so many so-called advanced civilizations of the past simply disappeared.

Why you should read this book: If you've ever seriously considered living off the fat of the land, generating the necessary provisions for your family by the sweat of your brow through the earth's natural bounty while forsaking the materialistic trappings of the modern world, this is your guide. Every page brims with step-by-step instructions for those essential arts that are often forgotten in our society: farming, animal husbandry, brewing, baking, canning, building fences, weaving baskets, even plans for simple, effective natural energy from sun, water, and air. Reprinted many times since its first run in 1976, some version of this book is invaluable for anyone who senses that toiling for ones own survival and creating even the smallest sense of self-sufficiency in a world run by corporations can be joyful, liberating, and perhaps the greatest adventure upon which one can embark.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You'd rather spend your life in a cubicle and buy things wrapped in plastic when you feel sad.

Inside Out: The Best of National Geographic Diagrams and Cutaways

Published by: The National Geographic Society

First line: The diagram artwork of the National Geographic Society serves as a lens and a mirror.

Why you should read this book: Celebrating the genius of the unsung artists who create detailed diagrams illustrating complicated concepts in the Society's monthly periodical, this book offers an in-depth look at plants, animals, buildings, microorganisms, heavenly bodies, and more. Divorced from the articles that inspired them, the illustrations take on new meaning, celebrated for their own ingenuity as well as the concepts they elucidate. While this book may not work as a reference, it's a stunning overview of how the designs are created, as well as a whirlwind tour of cultural, biological, geographical, and astral systems.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're not a visual learner.

What the World Eats

Author: Peter Menzel

First line: Imagine for a moment that it is early Saturday morning in the United States.

Why you should read this book: Seeking to answer the question of what the world eats, this book centers around its food portraits--photographs of twenty-six families from twenty-one countries, posed in their kitchens with a week's worth of food, with the grocery list and budget on the facing page--along with several pages of accompanying text for each family, describing their lives, their relationship to food, and some cultural details, as well as a few recipes. Interspersed among the food portraits are graphs with data about obesity, fast food, literacy, meat consumption, access to drinking water, and more, plus photo collages creating a snapshot of how we eat. Although intended for a younger audience, this well-written and provocative book is appropriate for anyone with an interest in food, nutrition, global economy, and world culture.

Why you should read this book: You're on the supersize-me diet.

Slow Food: The Case for Taste

Author: Carlo Petrini

First line: In Bra, a small city in Piedmont on the edge of the territory known as the Langhe, a group of young people were involved in social issues in the middle of the 1970s.

Why you should read this book: Inspired by a group of left-leaning Italian youth intent on preserving the best of recreational culture and fired in the crucible of anti-McDonald's activism, the Slow Food movement is a radical expression only in regard to the radical degradation of modern global culture it seeks to cure. Based on an ideal of conviviality, Slow Food is a movement dedicated to the preservation of culture, flavor, and the environment through the recognition of promotion of exquisite, historical, local specialties, breeds, and cultivars. This book documents the history and ideals of the movement, showcasing the philosophy, literature, and above all, the work that emphasizes tradition and excellence in food production, which ought to be available to the entire world.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're working in your garden.

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge

Author: Jeremy Narby

First line: The first time an Ashaninca man told me that he had learned the medicinal properties of plants by drinking a hallucinogenic brew, I thought he was joking.

Why you should read this book: After drinking the hallucinogenic ayahuasca as a young grad student learning from indigenous peoples in South America in the 80s, Narby spent years coming to grips with the meaning of his visions, and more importantly, with the shamanic tradition providing detailed, effective medico-biologic knowledge that can't be explained by Western thought, although it can be exploited by Western pharmaceutical companies. A long-term inquiry into the roots of anthropology, biology, neurology, mythology, and other diverse fields leads him to the intuitive jump that DNA, the source of all life, is capable of both sending and receiving information, and certain chemicals occurring naturally within the brain as well as within the forest, allow the human mind to perceive these communications and view reality without the distorting focal lens of science. Narby's journey is both personal and well-documented (for 162 pages of text, 60 pages of footnotes and 20 pages of bibliography) and, while he acknowledges that objective science can neither confirm nor deny his hypothesis, his book is a wonderful drawing together of ancient and modern world traditions seeking to demonstrate the cosmic connections among all life and environments on this world or any other.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If it transcends quantitative analysis, you don't see how it can have meaning, value, or validity.

Letters of a Woman Homesteader

Author: Elinore Pruitt Stewart

First line: Dear Mrs. Coney,--Are you thinking I am lost, like the Babes in the woods?

Why you should read this book: In 1909, a young, widowed single mother, seeking a cure for the grippe and the rigors of city life, relocates to Wyoming intent on demonstrating that women can homestead. With a clear head and a joyful heart, she throws herself into the rigors of country life, delighting in the natural beauty that surrounds her, while endearing herself to every sort of neighbor. Her letters to an old friend back home are written with spectacular description, fine humor, and an overall sense of the pioneer spirit that drives Stewart to overcome hardship and embrace love as she follows her dreams.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You belong to an outlaw polygamist Mormon sect. Also, some casual use of the n-word along with a few playful stereotypes of different European peoples.

365 Penguins

Author: Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet

First line: On New Year's Day, at nine o-clock in the morning, a delivery man rang our doorbell.

Why you should read this book: An unknown person with a very strange sense of humor begins to send the family penguins, one every day, for an entire year. In all the craziness of a house full of penguins, young people probably won't even notice that they're actually getting a full lesson in multiplication as the penguins add up to larger and larger numbers. This is an adorable, engaging story with a satisfying, happy ending and an ecological message tacked on to a great math book.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You would have refused delivery.

The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World

Author: Michael Pollan

First line: The seeds of this book were first planted in my garden--while I was planting seeds, as a matter of fact.

Why you should read this book: Beginning with the thesis that domestic agriculture is not a human invention, but rather something that grasses did to people to give them a leg up in their ongoing battle with trees, Pollan lays out the relationship between plants and people in terms of manipulation of desire: plants fulfilling some basic drives in exchange for most-favored status. Four plants and four corresponding desires are examined: apples and sweetness, tulips and beauty, marijuana and intoxication, and potatoes and control. This is an intense, well-researched and wonderfully written book that will necessarily change your perspective on the ideals of order and innovation, the place of man in nature, and the food you put into your mouth.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a lawyer for Monsanto, currently litigating cases against farmers who have stolen your client's intellectual property (i.e. planted unlicensed spuds genetically impregnated with pesticide).