Grades K-3 Grades 4-6 Grades 6-12 For Teachers For Parents Conservation Books
Cli-fi helps us imagine the future impacts of climate change. They can be set in the near term with an emphasis on imminent climate impacts or in the distant future that shows the implications of climate change. Teaching Climate Change to Adolescents, Richard Beach
Realistic Fiction
Same Sun Here
By Silas House
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: In this extraordinary novel in letters, an Indian immigrant girl in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner’s son find strength and perspective by sharing their true selves across the miles. Meena and River have a lot in common: fathers forced to work away from home to make ends meet, grandmothers who mean the world to them, and faithful dogs. But Meena is an Indian immigrant girl living in New York City’s Chinatown, while River is a Kentucky coal miner’s son. As Meena’s family studies for citizenship exams and River’s town faces devastating mountaintop removal, this unlikely pair become pen pals, sharing thoughts and, as their camaraderie deepens, discovering common ground in their disparate experiences.
Science Fiction
Birth Marked (Book 1)
By Caragh O’Brien
Link:More information at Goodreads
Summary: This novel is set in an enclave on the shores of Lake Superior, whose water has been drained by pipelines carrying it to areas in drought from climate change.
IN THE ENCLAVE, YOUR SCARS SET YOU APART, and the newly born will change the future. Sixteen-year-old Gaia Stone and her mother faithfully deliver their quota of three infants every month. But when Gaia’s mother is brutally taken away by the very people she serves, Gaia must question whether the Enclave deserves such loyalty. A stunning adventure brought to life by a memorable heroine, this dystopian debut will have readers racing all the way to the dramatic finish.
The Carbon Diaries 2015
By Saci Lloyd
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: It’s the year 2015, and global warming is ravaging the environment. In response, the United Kingdom mandates carbon rationing. When her carbon debit card arrives in the mail, sixteen-year-old Laura is just trying to handle the pressure of exams, keep her straight-X punk band on track, and catch the attention of her gorgeous classmate Ravi. But as multiple natural disasters strike and Laura’s parents head toward divorce, her world spirals out of control. With the highest-category hurricane in history heading straight toward London, chronicling the daily insanity is all Laura can do to stay grounded in a world where disaster is the norm.
Teacher Note: In responding to this novel, students could examine their own carbon footprint and the possible impacts of carbon rationing.
The Carbon Diaries 2017
By Saci Lloyd
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: In this riveting sequel to the hit eco-thriller The Carbon Diaries 2015, Laura Brown, now a college student in London, chronicles the struggle England faces as the government tightens its grip on carbon rations. Laura is juggling two love interests, and her eco-punk band, the dirty angels, keeps landing gigs, so life is good…until a crackdown on rioting students forces her to flee the city. Then, on the bank’s European tour, Laura finds herself at the center of a series of dangerous events. The angels have always sung about fighting corruption. Is it time for Laura to join the underground resistance movement and actually practice what the dirty angels preaches?
Memory of Water
By: Emmi Itaranta
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: Global warming has changed the world’s geography and its politics. Wars are waged over water, and China rules Europe, including the Scandinavian Union, which is occupied by the power state of New Qian. In this far north place, seventeen-year-old Noria Kaitio is learning to become a tea master like her father, a position that holds great responsibility and great secrets. Tea masters alone know the location of hidden water sources, including the natural spring that Noria’s father tends, which once provided water for her whole village.
Nature’s Confession
By: JL Morin
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: The epic tale of two teens in a fight to save a warming planet . . . the universe . . . and their love. A cli-fi quest full of romance, honor, and adventure .When a smart-mouthed, mixed-race teen wonders why the work that needs to be done pays nothing compared to the busywork glorified on holovision news, the search for answers takes him on the wildest journey of anyone’s lifetime.
Ship Breaker
By: Paolo Bacigalupi
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: This thrilling bestseller and National Book Award Finalist is a gritty, high-stakes adventure of a teenage boy faced with conflicting loyalties, set in a dark future America devastated by the forces of climate change.
The novel portrays a world where society has stratified, fossil fuels have been consumed and the seas have risen and drowned coastal cities. The main character scavenges beached tankers for scrap metals on the gulf coast. He saves a girl from a crashed tanker and attempts to reunite her with her wealthy, industrialist father who makes money by refining tar.
The Water Wars
By Cameron Stracher
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: The Water Wars is a fast paced novel set in a time when the ice caps have melted, rivers dried up and the water is controlled by a small elite. Hundreds of millions of people have already died, and millions more will soon fall-victims of disease, hunger, and dehydration. It is a time of drought and war. The rivers have dried up, the polar caps have melted, and drinkable water is now in the hands of the powerful few. There are fines for wasting it and prison sentences for exceeding the quotas.
The Weight of Light: A Collection of Solar Futures
By: Brenda Cooper, Andrew Dana Hudson, Corey S. Pressman, Cat Rambo
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: A collection of science fiction stories, art, and essays exploring human futures powered by solar energy, with an upbeat, solarpunk twist. From the Arizona State University Center for Science and the Imagination. Appropriate for high school and up.
Fantasy
Love in the Time of Global Warming
By Francesca Lia Block
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: After the Earth Shaker, which all but destroyed Los Angeles, seventeen-year-old Penelope (Pen) sets out into the wasteland in search of her family, her journey guided by a tattered copy of Homer’s Odyssey. Soon she begins to realize her own abilities and strength as she faces false promises of safety, the cloned giants who feast on humans, and a madman who wishes her dead. On her voyage, Pen learns to tell stories that reflect her strange visions, while she and her fellow survivors navigate the dangers that lie in wait.
The White Horse Trick
By: Kate Thompson
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: This novel is set in Ireland, combining magic and fantasy with drastic climate-induced storms and rainfall. Freak storms and devastating hurricanes sweep across the countryside. No one has enough food or firewood—electricity is an option only for the tyrannical Commander—and then the Commander begins stealing young children away. Pup’s little brother is one of the missing.
New Mexico
Into the Unknown Together
Into the Unknown Together is a community climate anthology containing stories, artwork, essays, poetry and more from 33 contributors based in the eco-regions of New Mexico. The publication is a creative compilation of collective future visions imagining a world beyond extraction and oppression in a time of climate adaptation.