Earth Day

Every April, we honor our planet on Earth Day with a selection of works celebrating the natural world. With titles ranging from stories of wilderness survival to nonfiction works about conservation and sustainability, this Collection features a broad spectrum of ideas regarding nature and our role within it.

Publication year 1820

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Hope, Love, Future, Environment, Objects & Materials, Space, Art, Equality, Literature, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Politics & Government

Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Drama, Mythology, Romanticism, British Literature

Prometheus Unbound (1820) is a four-act lyrical drama by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a celebrated English Romantic poet best known for his poems like “Ozymandias” (1818) and “Ode to the West Wind” (1819). The work is adapted from the play cycle Prometheus Bound (456 BCE), Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus the Fire-Bearer, traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Shelley rewrites the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods for humans and was severely... Read Prometheus Unbound Summary

Publication year 1813

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Death, Place, Environment, Future, Politics & Government, Power & Greed, War

Tags Narrative Poem, Christian, Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Mythology, Fantasy, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Military & War, World History, Science & Nature, Religion & Spirituality, Grief & Death, Romanticism, British Literature, Health, Philosophy, Food, Classic Fiction

Publication year 2025

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Friendship, Environment, Grief, Hope, Love, Animals, Self Discovery

Tags Memoir & Autobiography, Nature Writing, Animals, Science & Nature

Publication year 1999

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Environment, Animals, Good & Evil, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Hope, Place, Self Discovery

Tags Science & Nature

Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey (1999) is a piece of autobiographical and environmental writing by Jane Goodall. The text traces episodes from her personal life while delving into more philosophical and spiritual subject matter. Goodall’s anecdotes from her childhood through her late adulthood fuel her thematic explorations of Reconciling Faith, Morality, and Scientific Discovery, Overcoming Grief, Fear, and Despair, and Compassion and Hope as Resistance to Violence.Goodall (1934-2025) was known for her anthropological, ethnological... Read Reason for Hope Summary

Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Conflict, Perseverance, Loneliness, Nostalgia, Future, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Food, Place, Family, Friendship, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Colonialism, Community, Economics, Immigration, Politics & Government, War, Beauty, Equality, Fate, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy

Red Mars, a 1992 science fiction novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, is the first book in the Mars trilogy about settling and terraforming the planet Mars. Red Mars follows the first 100 people who land on Mars and begin the complex process of terraforming the planet. In 1993, Red Mars won the Nebula Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award. This guide uses the 2009 HarperVoyager edition.Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions... Read Red Mars Summary

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Environment, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Women`s Studies, British Literature, World History, Historical Fiction

Remarkable Creatures (2009), a novel by Tracy Chevalier, is historical fiction that explores the unlikely friendship between Mary Anning, a working-class woman with a passion for fossil hunting, and Elizabeth Philpot, an unmarried middle-class woman. The novel is set against the backdrop of the rigid societal conventions of 19th-century England. When Mary uncovers a prehistoric fossil on the cliffs of Lyme Regis, her discovery ignites enthusiasm in the scientific community and threatens her village’s deeply... Read Remarkable Creatures Summary

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Guilt, Memory, Mental Health, Environment, Place, Teamwork, War, Equality, Loyalty & Betrayal, Science & Technology, Wins & Losses

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction, Narrative Poem

Publication year 1980

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Language, Environment

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Coming of Age, Trauma & Abuse, Disability, Science & Nature, Technology, American Literature

Riddley Walker (1980) is a dystopian science fiction novel by Russell Hoban. The novel is famous for its use of a phonetic, idiosyncratic version of English, spoken by the characters who live in a post-apocalyptic society. Riddley Walker won numerous awards, including the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1981.Plot SummaryA young boy named Riddley Walker lives in Inland, the name given to the south of England 2,000 years after a nuclear war sent human... Read Riddley Walker Summary

Publication year 1904

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Grief, Fate, Apathy, Conflict, Perseverance, Death, Environment, Mothers, Siblings, Nation

Tags Tragedy, Irish Literature

Riders to the Sea (1904) is a one-act Irish play by John Millington Synge, originally performed in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. The play portrays the events of one day in the cottage of a low-income family living on Inishmaan, one of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland, as they cope with the loss of male relatives to the rough waters between the islands and mainland Ireland. This short play incorporates themes... Read Riders to the Sea Summary

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Climate, Social Class, Science & Technology, Environment

Tags Science & Nature, Climate Change, Journalism, World History, Politics & Government

Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Mothers, Daughters & Sons, Grandparents, Childhood & Youth, Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Conflict, Nostalgia, Memory, Love, Loneliness, Joy, Literature, Good & Evil, Fame, Justice, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Safety & Danger, Religion & Spirituality, Order & Chaos, Appearance & Reality, Animals, Environment, Plants, Food, Place

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Crime & Law, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

IntroductionEmma Donoghue’s Room is a 2010 novel about a boy named Jack who lives in a single room with his mother, Ma. Room is a crime thriller novel that explores themes of trauma, innocence, and adaptability through the eyes of five-year-old narrator, Jack. Room has received many awards, including the ALA Alex Award, the Indies Choice Book Award for Fiction, and The New York Times Book Review Best Book of the Year award. Room was... Read Room Summary

Publication year 1872

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Environment, Immigration, Colonialism, Politics & Government, Perseverance

Tags Classic Fiction, Life-Inspired Fiction, Travel Literature, Humor, American Literature, World History, Historical Fiction, Western, Action & Adventure

Roughing It (1872) is the second major work by American humorist Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens). It recounts his experiences during the Nevada silver rush of the 1860s. After his failed attempts to make a fortune as a miner, Twain would later achieve prominence as a lecturer and writer. He initially drew acclaim for his fanciful short story entitled “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” (1865). His best-known titles include The Innocents Abroad (1869)... Read Roughing It Summary

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Coming of Age, Death, Environment, Family, Fathers, Self Discovery, Power & Greed

Tags Animals, Action & Adventure, Fantasy

Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Environment

Tags Southern Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Southern Gothic, Dramatic Literature, Historical Fiction

Saints at the River is Ron Rash’s first novel. Before the book’s appearance in 2004, Rash established a reputation as one of the most promising young voices in contemporary Appalachian literature as a poet and short story writer. In his poetry collections, Rash, a native of rural South Carolina, captured the beauty of the Carolina wilderness and, at the same time, investigated the challenges of preserving that wilderness in the new millennium. His award-winning short... Read Saints at the River Summary

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Music, Family, Environment

Tags Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, Arts & Culture

Same Sun Here, co-written by Silas House and Neela Vaswani, details a year in the lives of two young people: an Indian immigrant living in New York City, and a small-town boy from Kentucky. Written as a series of letters between the two main characters, this middle grade novel is narrated by each author writing from the perspective of a separate character. Published in 2011, the book received the Nautilus Book Award, the E.B. White... Read Same Sun Here Summary