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.

Fablehaven

by Brandon Mull

Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Death, Place, Safety & Danger, Siblings, Coming of Age, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Family, Environment, Fear, Music, Gender Identity, Appearance & Reality, Conflict, Grandparents

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Magical Realism

Fablehaven was written by Brandon Mull (also known for The Candy Shop War and its sequels) and first published in 2006. It is the first in a series about an ecological preserve for magical creatures. In the novel, middle-school-aged siblings Kendra and Seth take a trip to their grandparents’ land in rural Connecticut, which they soon realize is hiding magic of all types. The siblings explore the magical world they have discovered while learning how... Read Fablehaven Summary

Far North

by Will Hobbs

Publication year 1996

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Safety & Danger, Coming of Age, Animals, Environment, Fear, Death, Childhood & Youth, Perseverance, Grief, Food

Tags Action & Adventure, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature

Set in Canada, American author Will Hobbs’s young-adult novel Far North (1996) follows Gabe Rogers, who lives with his grandparents in Austin, Texas. When Gabe tells his father that he wants to live with him in Canada, his father tells him he may on two conditions. First, Gabe must travel up north to experience the severe cold of the Northwest Territories for one year. Second, he must attend boarding school. While flying through Canada with... Read Far North Summary

Feed

by M.T. Anderson

Publication year 2002

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Environment

Tags Science Fiction, Satirical Literature, Technology, Grief & Death, Social Justice, Social Class, Education, Education, Fantasy, Romance

Feed by M.T. Anderson, published in 2002, is a young adult dystopian cyberpunk novel set in a future in which excessive consumerism is at the center of human identity and technology-driven artificiality serves as a distraction for a world that is in the final stages of complete ecological destruction. The feed is a brain-implanted device that integrates computer and network capabilities into the user’s consciousness and biological functions.For most, the feed is implanted at birth... Read Feed Summary

Fever Beach

by Carl Hiaasen

Publication year 2025

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Environment, Social Class, Politics & Government, Good & Evil, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Satirical Literature, Humor, Mystery & Crime Fiction

... Read Fever Beach Summary

Field Notes from a Catastrophe

by Elizabeth Kolbert

Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Science & Nature, Climate Change, World History, 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

Fire and Ice

by Erin Hunter

Publication year 2003

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Fear, Hope, Love, Memory, Nostalgia, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Food, Nature Versus Nurture, Family, Friendship, Mothers, Siblings, Teamwork, Community, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt

Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Animals

... Read Fire and Ice Summary

Fire Weather

by John Vaillant

Publication year 2023

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Climate, Plants, Economics, Globalization, Politics & Government, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Truth & Lies

Tags Science & Nature, Climate Change, Natural Disaster, Politics & Government, World History

... Read Fire Weather Summary

Flight

by John Steinbeck

Publication year 1938

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Masculinity, Environment, Coming of Age

Tags Coming of Age, Grief & Death, Education, Education, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

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Flight Behavior

by Barbara Kingsolver

Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Grief, Birth, Marriage, Mothers, Globalization, 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

Force of Nature

by Jane Harper

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Hate & Anger, Mental Health, Environment, Family, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

Force of Nature (2017) is a thriller by Australian author Jane Harper. Following The Dry (2016) and preceding Exiles (2022), it is the second in a three-book series of novels featuring federal investigator Aaron Falk. In this installment, Falk joins the state police in their investigation of a missing woman who has been a key point of contact for his investigation into possible embezzlement and fraud at a prominent accounting firm. While the woman’s fate... Read Force of Nature Summary

Freedom Train

by Dorothy Sterling

Publication year 1954

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Hope, Disability, Femininity, Race, Environment, Family, Teamwork, Colonialism, Politics & Government, War, Equality, Justice, Safety & Danger

Tags World History, Biography, Children`s Literature, US History, Historical Nonfiction, American Civil War

... Read Freedom Train Summary

Full Body Burden

by Kristen Iversen

Publication year 2012

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Journalism, Politics & Government, Science & Nature, World History, Health, Biography

Full Body Burden: Growing up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats is a 2012 nonfiction account by Kristen Iversen. Half memoir, half investigative journalism, the book covers Iversen’s life in a town near Denver, Colorado, as well as Rocky Flats—the nearby nuclear production facility. Quiet, observant, and adventurous, Iversen is the oldest of four children. The family keeps many pets, and Iversen adores horseback riding on their pasture at a new neighborhood near Rocky Flats... Read Full Body Burden Summary

Fuzz

by Mary Roach

Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment, Animals, Death, Equality

Tags Science & Nature, Animals, Crime & Law, Humor, World History

... Read Fuzz Summary