Earth Science, Environmentalism, and Sustainability: Books for Teens

Nonfiction

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Eriksson, Ann

This nonfiction book for teens outlines the science behind global heating and its root causes, provides ways to take action and honors the efforts of the millions of people from around the world working tirelessly to help the planet.

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Kallen, Stuart A.

Introduces the problems of global waste disposal, describing the hazards of toxins associated with landfills, plastics floating in the oceans, and debris orbiting the planet, with some of the solutions proposed by scientists. 

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Kapp, Diana

A guidebook to the modern environmental movement featuring 34 inspiring women working to save our planet.

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Kimmerer, Robin Wall

Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer's best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass is adapted for a young adult audience by children's author Monique Gray Smith, bringing Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation.

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Klein, Naomi

Warmer temperatures. Fires in the Amazon. Superstorms. These are just some of the effects of climate change that we are already experiencing. The good news is that we can all do something about it. Full of empowering stories of young leaders all over the world, this information-packed book offers a comprehensive look at the state of the climate today and how we got here, while also providing the tools they need to join this fight to protect and reshape the planet they will inherit.

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Martinez, Xiuhtezcatl

In this personal, moving essay, environmental activist and hip-hop artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez uses his art and his activism to show that climate change is a human issue that can't be ignored.

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McMillan, Kate

A stunning illustrated overview of "green" architecture on every continent, packed full of cool STEAM facts and fascinating details.

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Testa, Hannah

In this personal, moving essay, youth activist Hannah Testa shares with readers how she led a grassroots political campaign to successfully pass state legislation limiting single-use plastics and how she influenced global businesses to adopt more sustainable practices.

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Thunberg, Greta

Greta Thunberg has gathered the wisdom of over one hundred experts--geophysicists, oceanographers and meteorologists; engineers, economists and mathematicians; historians, philosophers and indigenous leaders--to equip us all with the knowledge we need to combat climate disaster.

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Wheeler, Kate

After a mechanical mishap, studious environmentalist Charlie and artistic Oliver travel back through time and must gather information on recycling throughout the ages to return to the present day.

Fiction

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Asphyxia

Smart, artistic, and independent, sixteen year old Piper is tired of trying to conform. But in a time of food scarcity, environmental collapse, and political corruption, Piper has other things on her mind--like survival. Piper has always been told that she needs to compensate for her Deafness in a world made for those who can hear. But when she meets Marley, a new world opens up--one where Deafness is something to celebrate, and where resilience means taking action, building a community, and believing in something better. This empowering, unforgettable story is told through a visual extravaganza of text, paint, collage, and drawings.

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Brrémaud, Frédéric

A collection of short comic stories told from the perspective of different animals whose lives are impacted by human society. Includes informational sections with suggestions for how you can help protect your animal neighbors.

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Carpenter, Nora Shalaway

In rural West Virginia, anti-fracking teen Viv discovers an ability to sense forests' energy, a power that becomes heightened the more she interacts with Dex, the new boy in town.

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Craft, Brianna

Co-president of her high school's environmental justice club, Isa Brown wants to make real change but her infuriating co-president, hustler Darius Freeman, wants to do things his own way. As they constantly clash over everything, both their hearts and their communities are at risk.

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Dimaline, Cherie

In a future world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's indigenous population, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow--and dreams--means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a 15-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones, and take refuge from the 'recruiters' who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing 'factories.'

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Gratz, Alan

When three children endure separate climate change disasters--a wildfire in the California woods, a close encounter with a hungry polar bear in Canada, and a massive hurricane in Florid--they emerge from their experiences committed to changing the world.

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Griffin, Rachel

Witches, who for centuries have maintained the climate, are losing their power as the atmosphere becomes more erratic, and all hope for a better future lies with Clara Densmore, an Everwitch whose rare magic is tied to every season.

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He, Joan

In a near future when life is harsh outside of Earth's last unpolluted place, Cee tries to leave an abandoned island while her sister, STEM prodigy Kasey, seeks escape from the science and home she once trusted.

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Hirsch, Jeff

Lucy Weaver has her future all figured out. Make an appearance at prom, ditch graduation, and then head out on an epic road trip with her boyfriend, Luke. But when everyone's phones start to ring halfway through the dance, Lucy knows something terrible has happened--something big. Decades of climate change have left the world teetering on the brink--entire cities drowned, violent extremism on the rise, millions of refugees with nowhere to turn. Is this the night it finally slips over the edge?

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Miyazaki, Hayao

In a long-ago war, humankind set off a devastating ecological disaster. Thriving industrial societies disappeared. The earth is slowly submerging beneath the expanding Sea of Corruption, an enormous toxic forest that creates mutant insects and releases a miasma of poisonous spores into the air. Nausicaä, a gentle but strong-willed young princess, has an empathic bond with the giant Ohmu insects, who open their hearts to her. She fights to create peace among empires that are fighting over the world's remaining precious natural resources.

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Muñoz, Gloria

In a near-future Florida ravaged by climate catastrophe, seventeen-year-old Julieta Villarreal is recruited by a space exploration program for immigrant teens after her twin sister is killed in a car crash.

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Shusterman, Neal

A lengthy California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, turning Alyssa's quiet suburban street into a warzone, and she is forced to make impossible choices if she and her brother are to survive.

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Stine, Alison

When her reclusive family relocates to climate-ravaged Colorado, sixteen-year-old Thea, who is hard of hearing, finds community and potential love with Ray, a Deaf boy.

Summaries provided by DPL's catalog unless otherwise noted. Click on each title to view more information.