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.

Publication year 1996

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Objects, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Society: Community, Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Identity: Language

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


Publication year 1920

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Friendship, Self Discovery, Society: 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


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Climate, Society: Economics, Society: Globalization, Natural World: Environment

Tags Climate Change, Science / Nature, Food, History: World, Politics / Government


Publication year 2010

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Business / Economics, Sociology, Health / Medicine, 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


Publication year 2013

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Food, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Anthropology, Anthropology, Science / Nature, History: World, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2017

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Society: Immigration

Tags Lyric Poem, Gender / Feminism, Relationships, Love / Sexuality, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Mental Illness


Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Identity: Femininity, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, LGBTQ, Gender / Feminism, Health / Medicine, 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


Publication year 1995

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Immigration, Society: Class, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Satire, Drama / Tragedy, Race / Racism, Immigration / Refugee, 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


Publication year 1968

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Economics

Tags Science / Nature, Business / Economics, Philosophy, Philosophy

Published in 1968, the essay “The Tragedy of the Commons,” by ecologist Garrett James Hardin, argues that human overpopulation will stress ecosystems beyond their limits and cause a resource catastrophe. The essay has greatly influenced environmentalists. Hardin was a politically controversial, award-winning science writer who taught ecology at the University of California at Santa Barbara for over 30 years. Critics on both sides of the political spectrum have resented not only some of his proposed... Read The Tragedy of the Commons Summary


Publication year 1998

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Life/Time: The Future

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Survival Fiction, Children's Literature

The Transall Saga is a 1998 fantasy/sci-fi novel by author Gary Paulsen, who is best known for his wilderness survival books, such as Hatchet. The plot revolves around young protagonist Mark Harrison, who goes on a weeklong hiking trip and is transported to what appears to be another world—Transall. He must learn to survive among strange vegetation, animals, and people—all in the midst of war—as he tries to find a way home.Other works by this... Read The Transall Saga Summary


Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: World, Politics / Government

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming is a 2019 non-fiction book by the American journalist David Wallace-Wells. Subtitled Life After Warming, the book explores the projected meteorological, sociological, and psychological consequences of climate change over the course of the 21st century. A New York Times bestseller, The Uninhabitable Earth appeared on numerous best books of the year lists, including those of The Economist, Time, and NPR. It is adapted from Wallace-Wells’s 2017 New York magazine... Read The Uninhabitable Earth Summary


Publication year 1977

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Food, Natural World: Place, Society: Community, Society: Globalization, Society: Economics, Society: Education, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags History: World


Publication year 2017

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Mothers, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Community, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Food, Natural World: Place

Tags Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Urban Development, Holidays & Occasions, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1993

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: The Past, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Appearance & Reality

Tags Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Depression / Suicide, Climate Change, Grief / Death, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction, Mental Illness, Classic Fiction

The Virgin Suicides is a realistic fiction novel written by Jeffrey Eugenides and originally published in 1993. Using death by suicide as its central motif, the novel examines the themes of The Objectification of Women, Romanticizing the Past, and The Effects of Loss. A statement of youth disillusionment, death by suicide becomes The Death of the Future, another of the novel’s themes. The novel was adapted into a critically acclaimed film directed by Sofia Coppola... Read The Virgin Suicides Summary


Publication year 1839

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Colonialism, Natural World: Place

Tags Travel Literature, Science / Nature, History: World


Publication year 2019

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Society: Community, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Climate Change, Fantasy

John Lanchester’s The Wall (2019) is dystopian cli-fi (climate science fiction) novel set in a near-future in which severe weather events and rising sea levels destroyed all the shores in the world and created a refugee crisis in countries of the Global South. The United Kingdom’s response is the ethically dubious decision to build a Wall and to kill or press into labor people who make it there. Defenders like the protagonist, Joseph Kavanagh, are... Read The Wall Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Femininity, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Mothers, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Science / Nature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Climate Change, Children's Literature, Animals


Publication year 1917

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Aging, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Art


Publication year 2007

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Life/Time: The Future

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, History: World