TopTenEnvironment

= ** Top 10 Books on the Environment for Youth: 2010 ** = First published //Booklis//t, Feb. 15, 2010  ||   || ***Note that many of these are nonfiction titles. Also, do choose those over Grade 4 for genre book clubs.**
 * Engberg, Gillian (author).

Today’s young readers will tackle environmental concerns more urgent than those faced by any previous generation. Never didactic, the following youth fiction and nonfiction titles, all reviewed in Booklist in the last 12 months, explore vital issues threatening the earth’s balance and introduce inspiring individuals who are working to restore it. [|The Carbon Diaries: 2015]. By Saci Lloyd. 2009. Holiday, $17.95(9780823421909). Gr. 9–12. Lloyd’s compulsively readable first novel, narrated by a 16-year-old punk-rock Londoner, offers a cautionary look at global warming in the near future. [|Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who Are Helping to Protect Our Planet]. By Harriet Rohmer. Illus. by Julie McLaughlin. 2009. Chronicle, $16.99 (9780811867795). Gr. 6–10. Personal stories illuminate crucial environmental and social issues in this collective biography of contemporary conservationists from Alaska to Mexico City. [|Just Grace Goes Green]. By Charise Mericle Harper. Illus. by the author. 2009. Houghton, $15 (9780618959570). Gr. 2–5. This fourth lively chapter book in the Just Grace series follows Grace and her third-grade class through a curricular unit on “going green.” Practical environmental tips are well integrated into the realistic, everyday drama at home and at school. [|Life in the Boreal Forest]. By Brenda Z. Guiberson. Illus. by Gennady Spirin. 2009. Holt, $16.99 (9780805077186). Gr. 2–5. A lively text filled with sights and sounds and finely rendered illustrations introduce the Northern Hemisphere’s boreal forest. This call for preserving the complex, endangered ecosystem includes resources for further research. [|The Omnivore’s Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat]. By Michael Pollan and Richie Chevat. 2009. illus. Dial, $17.99 (9780803734159). Gr. 6–10. This expertly edited young readers’ edition of Pollan’s 2006 best-selling adult title accessibly expands on the original’s look at American food sources and features all-new visuals, including diagrams, sidebars, and personal photos. [|Redwoods]. By Jason Chin. Illus. by the author. 2009. Roaring Brook/Neal Porter, $16.95 (9781596434301). PreS–Gr. 3. Straightforward nonfiction text combines with fantastical illustrations that highlight the awe-inspiring facts as well as the importance of preserving redwood forests. [|Saving the Ghost of the Mountain: An Expedition among Snow Leopards in Mongolia]. By Sy Montgomery. Illus. by Nic Bishop. 2009. Houghton, $18 (9780618916450). Gr. 4–7. In another winning entry in the Scientists in the Field series, Montgomery and Bishop chronicle a trip into Mongolia’s Altai Mountains led by the conservation director for the Snow Leopard Trust. [|We Are the Weather Makers: The History of Climate Change]. By Tim Flannery and Sally M. Walker. 2009. illus. Candlewick, $17.99 9780763636562). Gr. 7–12. This youth edition of Flannery’s adult title, [|The Weather Makers] (2005), presents in plainspoken language the realities of climate change and the devastating consequences if humans don’t alter their behavior to protect the earth’s atmosphere. [|Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl]. By Albert Marrin. 2009. illus. Dutton, $22.99 (9780525420774). Gr. 5–8. Marrin’s comprehensive overview brings close the bleak realities of the Dust Bowl and discusses environmental trouble spots that could result in even more cataclysmic future Dust Bowls.  [|Zenith]. By Julie Bertagna. 2009. Walker, $16.99 (9780802798039). Gr. 6–10. Like [|Exodus] (2008), this heart-pounding sequel follows a heroic 16-year-old girl on a quest to save refugees in a world nearly submerged in water after a global-warming-induced ice melt.