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.

The Shell Collector

by Anthony Doerr

Publication year 2002

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Environment, Fate, Loneliness, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Magical Realism, Science & Nature, Modern Classic Fiction

“The Shell Collector” (2002), a short story by American author Anthony Doerr, tells the story of an unnamed, blind shell expert living alone with his dog, Tumaini, on an isolated Kenyan island. He receives unwanted international attention after curing a local girl of malaria by exposing her to the bite of a deadly, venomous cone shell.This guide refers to the edition in the short story collection of the same name, published by Simon & Schuster... Read The Shell Collector Summary

The Sixth Extinction

by Elizabeth Kolbert

Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Science & Nature, Animals, Climate Change, World History

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History (2014) is a nonfiction book about the development, impact, and extinction of various species throughout the history of the world. Written by Elizabeth Kolbert, an American author, journalist, and Pulitzer Prize winner, the book focuses on Earth’s environmental, biological, and ecological aspects and how these factors impact the world and its inhabitants. Kolbert argues that we are currently in the process of experiencing a “Sixth Extinction” caused almost entirely... Read The Sixth Extinction Summary

The Skeleton Tree

by Iain Lawrence

Publication year 2016

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Masculinity, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, Animals, Environment, Plants, Food, Objects & Materials, Fathers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Fate, Safety & Danger

Tags Action & Adventure, Survival Fiction, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction

... Read The Skeleton Tree Summary

The Someday Birds

by Sally J. Pla

Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Grief, Disability, Childhood & Youth, Environment

Tags Realistic Fiction, Disability, Children`s Literature, Animals, Modern Classic Fiction

... Read The Someday Birds Summary

The Son

by Philipp Meyer

Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Conflict, Perseverance, Guilt, Loneliness, Regret, Femininity, Indigenous Identity, Masculinity, Race, The Past, Environment, Place, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Grandparents, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Nation, War, Fate, Power & Greed, Wins & Losses

Tags Historical Fiction, Western, US History, World History

... Read The Son Summary

The Song of Hiawatha

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Publication year 1855

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Love, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Memory, Language, Race, Future, The Past, Environment, Place, Family, Colonialism, Community, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Narrative Poem, Fairy Tale & Folklore, American Literature, Romanticism, Agriculture, US History, Science & Nature

... Read The Song of Hiawatha Summary

The Song of the Lark

by Willa Cather

Publication year 1915

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Perseverance, Gender Identity, Environment, Place, Self Discovery, Immigration, Art, Music

Tags Music, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, American Literature

The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather is the second novel in her classic American series entitled The Great Plains Trilogy. The trilogy includes O, Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Antonia (1918). Each novel in this trilogy explores different stories of women who find themselves challenged, nurtured, and built up by the natural beauty of the American West. These novels explore the conflicts and compromises when women either lean... Read The Song of the Lark Summary

The Spectator Bird

by Wallace Stegner

Publication year 1976

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Aging, Love, Environment, Immigration, Regret

Tags American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

The Spectator Bird, Wallace Stegner’s 11th novel and winner of the 1977 National Book Award, takes a hawklike view, both expansive and intimate, of such things as aging, death, love, loss, temptation, and regret. A sequel to his novel All the Little Live Things (1967), Bird follows the same protagonist and narrator, the retiree Joe Allston, but interlaces past and present, death and rebirth, memory and mythology. Stegner, who was 67 when Bird was published... Read The Spectator Bird Summary

The Spell of the Sensuous

by David Abram

Publication year 1996

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Indigenous Identity, Future, The Past, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Climate, Environment, Plants, Objects & Materials, Place, Space, Community, Globalization, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Science & Technology, Language

Tags Philosophy, Science & Nature, Psychology, Religion & Spirituality, Anthropology, Anthropology, Psychology, Philosophy

... Read The Spell of the Sensuous Summary

The Story of Doctor Dolittle

by Hugh Lofting

Publication year 1920

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Animals, Environment, Friendship, Self Discovery, Colonialism

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

The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting is a classic children’s book first published in 1920. Lofting, an English author and former civil engineer, crafted his tale of an eccentric doctor who learns to talk to animals by drawing on his experiences in the British Empire during World War I. Lofting’s story, which began as letters home to his children to escape the harsh wartime realities, belongs to the fantasy genre and has captivated... Read The Story of Doctor Dolittle Summary

The Story of Stuff

by Annie Leonard

Publication year 2010

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Science & Nature, Climate Change, Business & Economics, Sociology, Health, Politics & Government

The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health—and a Vision for Change (2010) is a book by Annie Leonard. It is based on a short animated documentary with the same title (2007) written and narrated by Leonard. Leonard criticizes American consumer society that values novelty, accumulation, and low prices for being unsustainable. Overconsumption affects our health, our happiness, and our planet. Leonard travels from factories, to... Read The Story of Stuff Summary

the sun and her flowers

by Rupi Kaur

Publication year 2017

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Love, Grief, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Beauty, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Forgiveness, Memory, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Shame & Pride, Fear, Perseverance, Conflict, Loneliness, Hope, Environment, Family, Immigration

Tags Lyric Poem, Gender & Feminism, Relationships, Love & Sexuality, Women`s Studies, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Mental Illness

... Read the sun and her flowers Summary

The Terror

by Dan Simmons

Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Fear, Loneliness, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Place, Colonialism, Order & Chaos

Tags Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, World History, Action & Adventure, Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Survival Fiction

... Read The Terror Summary

The Tiger Flu

by Larissa Lai

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Good & Evil, Femininity, Environment

Tags Science Fiction, LGBTQ+, Gender & Feminism, Health, Science & Nature, Chinese Literature, Fantasy

The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai is a work of dystopian speculative fiction first published in 2018 by Arsenal Pulp Press, an independent publisher based in Vancouver, Canada. With its focus on futuristic technologies that merge and manipulate human biology, The Tiger Flu can be subclassified as a cyber/biopunk thriller. The book won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award, which recognizes and celebrates the best LGBTQ books of the year. A Chinese Canadian, lesbian writer, Larissa... Read The Tiger Flu Summary

The Tortilla Curtain

by T.C. Boyle

Publication year 1995

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Immigration, Social Class, Environment, Justice

Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Satirical Literature, Dramatic Literature, Race & Racism, Immigration & Refugeeism, American Literature

Published in 1995, The Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle tells the story of two couples living parallel lives in Southern California: Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher, affluent white Americans with a home in the upper-middle-class subdivision of Arroyo Blanco; and Cándido and América Rincón, undocumented immigrants from Mexico living in a makeshift camp at the bottom of the canyon. Rotating among the perspectives of the four protagonists, the novel explores the inequality inherent in the United States... Read The Tortilla Curtain Summary