Environmental Literature

In these 10 beautifully moving short stories, mostly written over the last year, Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle paints a collective portrait of our strange times. A man abroad wanders the stag-and-hen-strewn streets of Newcastle, as news of the virus at home asks him to question his next move. An exhausted nurse struggles to let go, having lost a much-loved patient in isolation. A middle-aged son, barred from his mother's funeral, wakes to an oncoming hangover of regret.

Lupé might be the very last Guadalupe petrel alive, and he knows the best way to save his flock is to find the Islands of Life and a mate. The problem is the well-meaning man-flock that's decided to keep him safe...in a cage. But Lupé has hatched an escape plan all his own! Told in a "Disneyesque" style, A Wing and a Prayer will have you smiling and laughing as you're introduced to wonderful characters but also important themes, especially the environment.

Former Marine sniper and CIA target man, Atticus Steed, turned professional hitman, now only takes down special targets...people who for one reason or another have literally gotten away with murder. Directed by an unknown unseen employer who identifies himself simply as Omega, Steed receives his sketchy instructions for the hits via text message from a burner phone. But who is Atticus Steed, really? And how does his employer gain knowledge about cases from all over the country...cases involving those murderers who for whatever reason have been set free by the system?

After setting fire to the Forever Sea and leaving the surface world behind, Kindred Greyreach dives below to find a Seafloor populated by roving bands of scavengers. Among them, Kindred discovers a familiar face working to save the Sea from the continued spread of the Greys and the ravages of the world above. But when Kindred finds herself at odds with them, she and her friends will have to use every power available to them—including their link to the surface world—to forestall disaster.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was the first American philosopher to seriously consider Nature as an essential component of human serenity. The carefully chosen chosen selections in this audiobook include essays interspersed with classic Emerson poetry.

"Bring back the lynx? Over my dead body!" A mutter passed through the crowd of environmental protestors, and Rory stepped forward. "Your hunting has destroyed our hills and left them treeless wastes, devoid of wildlife. It’s time that changed." Lord Purdey’s lip curled in a sneer. "Listen, you lentil-eating cat lover, Scotland is owned by me and men like me. If we want to kill anything that moves and bulldoze your beloved hills flat, we will."

Pyn-Poi's mother Marak wants her to grow up to be the matriarch of the tribe, learning how to cook, to make medicines, how to care for everyone, but Pyn-Poi would rather be out among the trees like her father Sook-Sook, learning how persuade tree roots into bridges, to feel when shoots are too crowded, when drooping leaves need attention. Then something starts going wrong in The Real: when the rains come, instead of nourishment, they bring a noxious stench that's poisoning people and plants alike.

China’s meteoric rise to economic powerhouse might be charted with dams. Every river in the country has been tapped to power exploding cities and factories - every river but one. Running through one of the richest natural areas in the world, the Nujiang’s raging waters were on the verge of being dammed when a 2004 government moratorium halted construction. Might the Chinese dragon bow to the "Angry River"? Would Beijing put local people and their land ahead of power and profit? Could this remote region actually become a model for sustainable growth? Ed Grumbine traveled to the far corners of China’s Yunnan province to find out.

What if we shared planet Earth with other intelligent species? What if inter-species communication were really possible? Seek out some answers in Turtle Dolphin Dreams... An extremely unusual work of fiction in which three creatures, a turtle, a dolphin, and a human, link minds through dreams to bring a unique perception of the world. Most of the narration is by the turtle (via the human) and the dolphin's voice comes through both turtle and human, yet somehow this strange book hangs together and holds the listener's attention.

"Timi and the Enchanted Paintbrush": A Magical Tale of Creativity, Problem-Solving, and Community Service Story Description for Parents and Teachers "Timi and the Enchanted Paintbrush" is an inspiring children's story perfect for elementary and middle school readers ages 7-12. This enchanting tale follows eleven-year-old Timi Alvarez, a creative young artist who discovers a magical paintbrush that brings his drawings to life. When his village faces a devastating drought, Timi combines his artistic talents with scientific research to save his community. Educational Value for Children This ...

Inspired by environmental activism, Tiger Work blends fiction, essay and poetry to make a powerful and very personal appeal for change. If we continue to live as we do now, Ben Okri argues in this evocative collection, there will be no world left for us to fix. He imagines messages, sent to us from beyond the end, from those who saw it coming—from Africa, Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world—exhorting us to change now. This is a collection comprising two poems and six prose pieces—three short stories, an essay, a letter, and an interview.

So often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom's long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.

Armed with nothing but some loose change and her beloved dog Duke, Mallee girl Pippa Black has finally found the courage she needs to escape a dangerous relationship. Two cryptic words written on a paper napkin send her in search of the one person who might help her—a long-lost brother she has always dreamed of finding. Pippa's quest leads her to the remote town of Currajong, high in the beautiful Victorian alps. As a runaway seeking refuge among strangers, Pippa learns that she's been mistakenly implicated in a shocking crime.

The sixth "mass extinction event" in the history of planet Earth is currently under way, with over two hundred species dying off every day. The cause of this seismic event is also the source of the single biggest threat to human life: our own inventions. But for all our talk about sea levels and biotechnology, do we really know what our future will actually look like? Will our immune systems be attacked by so-called super bugs, always evolving, and more easily spread than ever? Will the disappearance of numerous species cripple the biosphere?

Meant to be listened to aloud, by candlelight, in a silken robe, with a bubbly beverage. Whether you enjoy romance novels for their own sake, or for their blush producing giggle factor, this romantic parody is for you. Young forest ranger Flora is both alluring and innocent. When danger and love invade her woodland sanctuary, she tries to protect both her heart and her furry forest friends.

The End of the End of the Earth is a collection of Jonathan Franzen's essays and speeches from the past five years, in which he grapples with the most important and heated ethical subjects of the day: environmentalism, capitalism, wealth inequality, race, technology, and the role of art. He challenges us to ask difficult questions: What is our civic responsibility in the face of climate change, the greatest ever threat to our planet and species? Does technology give us a sense of control or community or is it stripping these from us?

Meet Gigantic, the smallest blue whale in the Atlantic. Dwarfed by the other whales, Gigantic keeps to himself, making new friends and perfecting his somersaults and flips in the bay. But one day when Gigantic’s brother, Titan, gets stuck on the sand, it’s down to Gigantic and his smallest sea creature friends to save the day. Can they show it’s possible to be tiny and tough?

River Rules is a small-town environmental suspense novel with a deep heart and powerful conscience. What the housing bubble didn’t break in Bridgeville - a small New England community blessed by the Connecticut River - greed, double-dealing, and rapid-fire change just might. Peter Russo, a part-time farmer and full-time rambler with his rescue dog, has a knack for conflict, and a burning desire to protect Bridgeville’s land and water from exploitation.

A mysterious hologram virus occupies our detective, Mike Lambert, while his exotic heroine, Dr. Helene Troy, runs for president and takes firm stands on issues such as population, jails, education, wars and environment. Mike is the average macho male detective who must remove his ego blinders if he is to win the fair Dr. Troy and join the futuristic movement for which she stands.

When medical waste washes ashore ruining their beach, the World Patrol Kids track down the criminals causing the problem. The World Patrol Kids are a multi-ethnic crime-solving, environmental singing-and-dancing kids group (aged 10-14) who take on polluters, climate change, and traffickers of endangered species.