(2) 4-6 Less extreme than the dramatic hurricanes, floods, and other natural disasters occurring around the globe, the weather crisis affecting this book's fictional place reveals a slower dismantling of land and its inhabitants. Jillian Robichaux lives in the Cajun community of Boutin in the wetlands of Louisiana. Gradually, coastal erosion is destroying the town: the bridge that connects Boutin to the mainland is unsafe; the school cannot be repaired; and businesses, homes, and even a cemetery are now underwater. The future is clear: families must leave. For Jillian, the inevitable exodus feels like an abandonment of her entire culture and her definition of who she is. Guillory's well-crafted setting includes a cuisine of jambalaya, gumbo, and turtle sauce piquant; a sprinkling of French phrases; and Cajun names. The biggest loss, and the one developed most artfully, is the sense of community created in Boutin over generations. The townspeople nurture that history through their stories, which Jillian and her friends capture in an ambitious oral history project that preserves those memories. Jillian's grief, and her trepidation about facing a now unmoored future, ring true and give the novel its heart, while the issues of preserving one's environment and heritage, although strong, never overtake the narrative but offer readers much to ponder.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Kayla Harren. As a teenager in 1979 northern India, Jadav Payeng was concerned that many snakes died after flood damage to the eroding Brahmaputra River region. He planted twenty bamboo saplings...and ended up many years later with a protected 1300-acre forest teeming with animals. Hopeful and inspiring, this true-life ecological story is illustrated with evocative, verdant art. Appended with endnotes and a planting project.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) 4-6 Searchlight Books: Do You Dig Earth Science? series. These solid earth science introductions provide definitions of various earth materials and their properties, as well as explanations of the formation processes and the ways in which humans use them. Accurate information is interspersed with questions, most embedded in captions that accompany color photographs, to encourage careful observation and reasoning. Diagrams, maps, and other visuals are very clear. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Searchlight Books: Do You Dig Earth Science? titles: Examining Erosion, Uncovering Earth's Crust, Figuring Out Fossils, Marveling at Minerals, Researching Rocks, Studying Soil.

Reviewer: Devon Johnson

(4) K-3 Big Buddy Books: Planet Earth series. These books explore basic earth science phenomena. The series focuses primarily on scientific study but also briefly touches on social-environmental issues. Though the information is cursory, the narratives provide enough cause-and-effect logic to satisfy scientifically inclined middle-elementary-aged students. Drawings, diagrams, and captioned photos, from up-close details to wide panoramic views, add visual variety. Glos., ind. Review covers these Big Buddy Books: Planet Earth titles: Caves, Erosion, Fossil Fuels, and Glaciers.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(4) YA Exploring Planet Earth series. These two volumes cover earth processes (primarily surface, though earthquakes are also included), describing wind and water erosion, avalanches, and landslides. The organization and text-heavy definitions are sometimes unclear, and detract from the otherwise informative presentations. Color photographs are helpful, though they cannot begin to cover the many references to natural phenomena found in the text. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 This book discusses the ways in which human activity is negatively affecting the earth and its inhabitants. Simple suggestions of ways readers can help reverse the destruction of soil are included. The full-page color photographs have helpful captions but sometimes are more decorative than illustrative. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford