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.

The Echo Maker

by Richard Powers

Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Memory, Environment, Self Discovery

Tags Psychological Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychology, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Psychology

The Echo Maker (2006) is a psychological mystery thriller by American author Richard Powers. The novel follows protagonist Mark Schluter in the wake of an accidental brain injury that led him to believe that his sister, Karin, is an imposter. The resulting conflict leads to questions of meaning, perception, and identity. The author of 13 books as of 2023, Powers has won numerous awards, including a Pushcart Prize in 2003, a National Book Award for... Read The Echo Maker Summary

The Education of Little Tree

by Forrest Carter

Publication year 1976

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grandparents, Environment, Education

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, American Literature, Classic Fiction

Published in 1976, The Education of Little Tree is a memoir-styled work of fiction written by Forrest Carter, the pseudonym for Asa Earl Carter. The novel received some critical acclaim in the 1980s and was perceived to be the actual memoir of a child growing up in the wilds of Tennessee with his Cherokee grandparents. This premise resonated with the desire of the time to become more attuned to nature. However, the book has since... Read The Education of Little Tree Summary

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

by Jacqueline Kelly

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Femininity, Coming of Age, Animals, Environment, Plants, Grandparents, Social Class, Science & Technology

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Science & Nature, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, World History

Published in 2009, Jacqueline Kelly’s The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is a middle grade novel that follows the life of a young Calpurnia as she explores her love for science in the highly patriarchal society that dominated Texas in the late 19th century. The novel received praise from both readers and critics for its thematic emphasis on discovery and personal growth, earning it the Newbery Honor Award in 2010. This guide refers to the 2011... Read The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Summary

The Flowers

by Alice Walker

Publication year 1973

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Coming of Age, Appearance & Reality, Plants, Environment

Tags Coming of Age, African American Literature, Race & Racism, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Reconstruction Era, Love & Sexuality, Gender & Feminism, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics & Government

“The Flowers,” a short story by Alice Walker, considers the impact of the Jim Crow South on a young Black girl’s emotional development and social awareness. Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983—along with a National Book Award—for her critically acclaimed work The Color Purple (1982). Her experience growing up poor in the segregated sharecropping community of Eatonton, Georgia, as well as her advocacy as a Womanist activist, inform the personal and social... Read The Flowers Summary

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

by Carrie Ryan

Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Hope, Femininity, Coming of Age, Death, Environment, Family, Self Discovery, Community, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

Carrie Ryan’s young adult novel The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009) uses a literary voice to blend elements of several different genres, including horror, romance, and dystopian fiction. The story follows Mary, a teenage girl growing up in the aftermath of a world ravaged by hordes of the undead. As she struggles to defy her community’s rigid rules, she must also confront existential challenges like love, loss, and the constant threat of death at... Read The Forest of Hands and Teeth Summary

The Future of Life

by Edward O. Wilson

Publication year 2001

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Future, Environment

Tags Science & Nature, Climate Change, Philosophy, Philosophy

The Future of Life is a 2002 non-fiction book of popular science by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and biologist Edward O. Wilson. In the book, Wilson draws on his decades of experience as a biologist of invertebrates, as well as his years spent advocating for conservation causes, to paint a picture of the threat people pose to the world’s biodiversity and to suggest ways that humanity can change course. The book is structured as... Read The Future of Life Summary

The Good Earth

by Pearl S. Buck

Publication year 1931

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Power & Greed, Environment, Social Class, Perseverance, Place, Community

Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Asian History, Education, Education, World History, Chinese Literature

A measure of the quality, prescience, and veracity of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth is that, nearly a century after its first publication, the book remains required reading in literature, world history, and social science courses. The novel is a simple, straightforward narrative about 50 years in the life of Wang Lung, an uneducated farmer in eastern China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While this era period was one of continual... Read The Good Earth Summary

The Good Food Revolution

by Will Allen

Publication year 2012

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Family, Environment

Tags Food, Business & Economics, Science & Nature, Social Justice, Arts & Culture, Health, Biography

Will Allen, author of the 2012 book The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities, co-written with Charles Wilson, is an important figure in the American urban farming movement. Born into a farming family, Allen spent much of his adolescence and early adulthood hoping to avoid the agricultural life; however, after a career in professional basketball and later in corporate sales and marketing, Allen finds himself farming full-time, with idealism in his heart... Read The Good Food Revolution Summary

The Grey Wolf

by Louise Penny

Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Guilt, Environment, Family, Teamwork, Community, Economics, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Justice, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

... Read The Grey Wolf Summary