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Non-fiction


 

Cowed

By Denis Hayes

Link: More information at Goodreads

Summary: In their quest to find fresh solutions to our bovine problem, the authors take us to farms across the country from Vermont to Washington. They visit worm ranchers who compost cow waste, learn that feeding cows oregano yields surprising benefits, talk to sustainable farmers who care for their cows while contributing to their communities, and point toward a future in which we eat less, but better, beef. In a deeply researched, engagingly personal narrative, Denis and Gail Hayes provide a glimpse into what we can do now to provide a better future for cows, humans, and the world we inhabit. They show how our relationship with cows is part of the story of America itself.

 

 

Eyes Wide Open: Going Beyond the Environmental Headlines

 

By Paul Fleischman

Link: More information at Goodreads

Summary: Paul Fleischman offers teens an environmental wake-up call and a tool kit for decoding the barrage of conflicting information confronting them.

 

 

A Global Warming Primer

By Jeffery Bennett

Link:More information at Goodreads

Summary Bennett presents the science of climate change clearly, in a way that will be understandable to readers without scientific training. But perhaps more importantly, he uses a three-step process to help readers come to incontrovertible conclusions. He opens the book by asking two key scientific questions. How do we know that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases can trap heat? And how do we know that human activity is increasing the amount of those gases in the atmosphere? Answering the two questions leads to the inevitable conclusion that human activity is warming the planet and is expected to continue doing so. 2017 NSTA, Outstanding Science Trade Books  2017 Children’s Book Council, Best STEM Books

 

A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest

By William deBuys

Link: More information at Goodreads

Summary: In A Great Aridness, William deBuys paints a compelling picture of what the Southwest might look like when the heat turns up and the water runs out. This semi-arid land, vulnerable to water shortages, rising temperatures, wildfires, and a host of other environmental challenges, is poised to bear the heaviest consequences of global environmental change in the United States. Examining interrelated factors such as vanishing wildlife, forest die backs, and the over-allocation of the already stressed Colorado River–upon which nearly 30 million people depend–the author narrates the landscape’s history–and future. He tells the inspiring stories of the climatologists and others who are helping untangle the complex, interlocking causes and effects of global warming.

 

The Omnivore’s Dilemma: Young Readers

By Michael Pollan

Link: More information at Goodreads

Summary: The New York Times bestseller that’s changing America’s diet is now perfect for younger readers “What’s for dinner?” seemed like a simple question—until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes. From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young readers’ adaptation of Pollan’s famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implications of their food choices.

 

 

The Story of Stuff

By Annie Leonard

Link: More information at Goodreads

Summary: Leonard examines the “stuff” we use everyday, offering a galvanizing critique and steps for a changed planet. From sneaking into factories and dumps around the world to visiting textile workers in Haiti and children mining coltan for cell phones in the Congo, Leonard, named one of Time magazine’s 100 environmental heroes of 2009, highlights each step of the materials economy and its actual effect on the earth and the people who live near sites like these.

 

 

This Changes Everything Capitalism Vs. The Climate

By Naomi Klein

Link: More information at Goodreads

Forget everything you think you know about global warming. It’s not about carbon – it’s about capitalism. The good news is that we can seize this crisis to transform our failed economic system and build something radically better.

In her most provocative book yet, Naomi Klein, author of the global bestsellers Shock Doctrine and No Logo, exposes the myths that are clouding climate debate.

 

 

Biography


 

 

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

By William Kamkwamba

Link: More information at Goodreads

Summary: When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba’s tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season’s crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family’s life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William’s windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land. This book directly deals with climate change and the humanitarian crises that ensues. It is also about how people can find solutions and create renewable energy.

Lesson plans for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

 

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