Texts in this collection explore topics like climate change, energy, and humanity's place in the environment through a variety of genres, whether the science fiction of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake or the scientific journalism of Dan Egan's The Death and Life of the Great Lakes.
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Teams
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Science / Nature, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance
Every Soul a Star is a young adult novel by Wendy Mass that takes three clichés of adolescence—the Brainiac, the Pretty Girl, and the Antisocial Misfit—and develops them into psychologically nuanced characters who are at once sympathetic and believable. The novel was published in 2008, well after Mass had established her reputation as a foremost young adult fiction writer of the new millennium. Her prolific output—nearly 30 titles in just under 15 years—has secured a... Read Every Soul a Star Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt
Tags Sociology, Science / Nature, Business / Economics, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help, Politics / Government
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—And Why Things Are Better Than You Think, written by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, and Anna Rosling Rönnlund, was published by Flatiron Books in 2018. This book examines how people across cultures view the world through a negative lens, which leads them to believe conditions everywhere are declining. Doctor and global health expert Hans Rosling offers research and anecdotes from his medical experience and his lectures to unpack... Read Factfulness Summary
Publication year 1891
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Science / Nature
Publication year 1995
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Fame, Society: Community, Society: Nation
Tags Free verse, Science / Nature
Publication year 1933
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Self Discovery, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Animals, Society: Community
Tags Classic Fiction, Children's Literature, Historical Fiction, Agriculture, Animals, History: U.S., Parenting, Religion / Spirituality, Science / Nature, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, History: World
Publication year 2001
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Food, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Food, Sociology, Education, Education, Science / Nature, Arts / Culture, History: World, Health / Medicine, Agriculture, Business / Economics, Journalism, Politics / Government, Social Justice
IntroductionFast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is a 2001 nonfiction book by Eric Schlosser that investigates the business practices of the American fast food industry and the associated agricultural industries that supply it. Following the precedent of Upton Sinclair’s famous 1906 work The Jungle, Schlosser provides readers with a glimpse into the questionable ethics of these large food corporations. Schlosser likewise provides brief historical accounts of fast food’s origins and traces... Read Fast Food Nation Summary
Publication year 2011
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Colonialism, Society: Nation
Tags Science / Nature, Race / Racism, Politics / Government, Social Justice, Sociology, History: World, Health / Medicine
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: Aging, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Literature, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance
Tags Historical Fiction, Depression / Suicide, Health / Medicine, Love / Sexuality, Mental Illness, Parenting, Social Justice, Science / Nature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2006
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Environment
Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: World, Politics / Government
In 2006, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, New York Times journalist Elizabeth Kolbert published Field Notes from a Catastrophe, an urgent review of climate change. The book began as a tripartite publication in the New Yorker, for which the political journalist received a National Magazine Award.Kolbert’s investigation begins on Greenland’s west coast, where natives have noticed the shrinking of icebergs for years. In another northerly location, the Alaskan island of Shishmaref is disappearing underwater... Read Field Notes from a Catastrophe Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Identity: Gender, Society: Community
Tags Science / Nature, Biography
Publication year 2023
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Flora/plants, Society: Economics, Society: Globalization, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Natural Disaster, Politics / Government, History: World
Publication year 2013
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Crime / Legal, Science / Nature, Journalism, History: World, Health / Medicine
Published in 2013, Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital is a work of nonfiction by American journalist Sheri Fink. The book, which takes place in August 2005, describes the struggle of staff and patients to survive when trapped in New Orleans’ Memorial Medical Center during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Lacking critical resources, the doctors make a drastic decision that will cause many patients to die via euthanasia. Five Days... Read Five Days at Memorial Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Tags Business / Economics, Finance / Money / Wealth, Technology, Science / Nature, History: World, Politics / Government, Biography
Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt is a 2014 economic nonfiction book by financial journalist Michael Lewis. Flash Boys investigates Wall Street’s desire to maximize profits and the ramifications of this profit-seeking behavior on the broader economy. Flash Boys follows investor Brad Katsuyama’s quest to establish the Investor’s Exchange (IEX) to mitigate the effects of High-Frequency Trading (HFT), a Wall Street profit-maximizing trading practice at the heart of Lewis’s investigation. Through Katsuyama’s story, Lewis explores... Read Flash Boys Summary
Publication year 1884
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Identity: Gender
Tags Satire, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Classic Fiction, Fantasy, Philosophy, Class, Gender / Feminism, British Literature, Victorian Period, Science / Nature, History: World, Philosophy
IntroductionIn his introduction to Flatland: a Romance of Many Dimensions (1884), British mathematician Banesh Hoffmann describes the novel as “a stirring adventure in pure mathematics” and emphasizes the fundamentally fantastical nature of the story (iii). He also says that author Edwin A. Abbott intended the novel to be instructional. Both the surreal nature of Flatland and its didactic elements are plain, but there is disagreement among scholars and readers on the question of exactly what... Read Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions Summary
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Birth, Relationships: Marriage, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Globalization, Natural World: Environment
Tags Climate Change, Science / Nature, Modern Classic Fiction
Barbara Kingsolver’s 2012 novel Flight Behavior presents a symbolic connection between Dellarobia Turnbow, an unhappy farm wife who secretly dreams of running away from it all, and a surprising migration of monarch butterflies that alight upon her in-laws’ property in Feathertown, Tennessee. As the butterflies struggle to survive and reproduce to continue their species, Dellarobia struggles in her efforts to deal with the consequences of her past decisions and the possibility of her new life... Read Flight Behavior Summary
Publication year 2001
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt
Tags Finance / Money / Wealth, Psychology, Philosophy, Self Help, Business / Economics, Science / Nature, Psychology, Philosophy
Publication year 2005
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Society: Class, Society: Economics
Tags Business / Economics, Sociology, Science / Nature, Social Science, Psychology, Psychology, Politics / Government
Rarely does a book about economics attract a large audience, but Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything sold 4 million copies after its 2005 debut. The book, by University of Chicago professor Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner, explains how incentives—the reasons why people do things—can cause unusual and unexpected effects in many areas of life.Praised and reviled for its outside-the-box approach—the work was condemned for suggesting that liberalized abortion laws... Read Freakonomics Summary
Publication year 1999
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Natural World: Animals
Tags Action / Adventure, Animals, Children's Literature, Science / Nature, Realistic Fiction, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2018
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Identity: Femininity, Self Discovery, Society: Community
Tags Travel Literature, Grief / Death, Science / Nature, Anthropology, Sociology, History, Anthropology, History: World
Publication year 2017
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Indigenous, Natural World: Flora/plants, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Free verse, American Literature, Love / Sexuality, Science / Nature, LGBTQ