Lightning Beneath the Sea by James M. Tabor

LIGHTNING BENEATH THE SEA by James M. Tabor is a fascinating read about “The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age.” Tabor, an award-winning and widely published author, chronicles events surrounding efforts to lay the first transatlantic cable. Most of this activity takes place in the mid-1800s and while the technology is interesting in itself (e.g., the need to develop a salt water cable and a way to safely lay it across the ocean floor) so are the various players, including Samuel Morse, and financiers of the day. I was astounded to learn that Cyrus Field and the group who formed the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company in 1854 “committed $1.5 million ($57 million [in today’s dollars]) to start the project. That came from just five men and amounted to about 4% of the American government's total spending then.” For more than a decade, they battled some amazing obstacles, including weather issues, which adds to the tension of this tale of remarkable resilience. LIGHTNING BENEATH THE SEA received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (“epic maritime adventure, as well as a riveting study of technological progress”) and The Wall Street Journal described it as “full of drama and excitement.” Enjoy!

May Contain Murder by Orlando Murrin

MAY CONTAIN MURDER by Orlando Murrin is a locked room murder of sorts, set aboard a large yacht travelling across the Atlantic Ocean. A theft, a suspicious death and plenty of tension between the passengers contribute to an intriguing puzzle for Paul Delamare. He is a food writer and sometimes chef who is onboard to help his friend, Lady Hardcastle, write her memoirs. It seems there could be some blackmail and fraud involved, too, so readers will need to decide if each person – crew members included – are who they seem to be and whether Paul should be trusting the people he chooses. After all, “The yacht's countless mirrors … are one-way, and the intricate paneling that lines its corridors studded with spyholes and listening devices.” Plenty of opportunity for second-guessing and a little tarot reading thrown in for added fun. Recommended for fans of Nita Prose (The Maid), Benjamin Stevenson (Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone), and Jessa Maxwell (The Golden Spoon), MAY CONTAIN MURDER is the second book (after Knife Skills for Beginners) in the series, but can be read as a stand-alone. Several recipes are included.

Port Anna by Libby Buck

PORT ANNA by Libby Buck is a gentle story about starting over and second chances. Set in small-town coastal Maine (Port Anna is named for Anna Vale, a long-ago lighthouse keeper), this debut features Gwen Gilmore whose younger sister Molly drowned several years ago. Having lost a teaching position, Gwen decides to move back to Maine and encounters friends from her childhood and youth; later musing that “the defining moments of our lives happen before we turn 18.” She struggles to make peace with past events and to overcome hardship, including housing challenges, while gradually amassing the start of a new life with elements of romance, friendship, protectiveness towards a runaway teen, and developing a shared community at the local high school, her new employer. Throughout the story, Gwen reflects on love and grief and how “You cannot have one without the other. … In the middle of grief, there were also gifts: a smushed loaf of banana bread from a friend who knew she forgot to eat, the caress of a man covered in blue paint, and the skinny girl’s indomitable spirit.” When reviewing this novel, Publishers Weekly said, “Readers looking for a sweet, summery outing … will want to check this out." Overall, PORT ANNA is an engaging, feel-good read enlivened by Buck’s strong affection for Maine, as she says, “I am deeply grateful for its many gifts -- the bounty and diversity of the land and seascape as well as the fascinating, complicated people who call it home.” 

Young Readers: The Sixth Extinction and The Uninhabitable Earth

THE SIXTH EXTINCTION (young readers adaptation) by Elizabeth Kolbert is scheduled to be available on February 6, 2024. No one would deny that this is an important topic of grave concern to young people and I am grateful for having seen a preview. I wish, however, that greater effort had been made to provide a version of this award-winning text that more clearly outlined key issues. Kolbert shares many relevant stories (e.g., the rhino ultrasound), but important messages may be lost in the still rather dense text.  In addition to line art images (no graphs or diagrams that I saw), there is a three page glossary and index, but, sadly, sources and further reading are not included. Booklist recommended THE SIXTH EXTINCTION for grades 5 thru 8 (seems young, given the language level) and gave it a starred review.

THE UNINHABITABLE EARTH by David Wallace-Wells is now available in an adaptation for Young Adults. It tells the story of “Life After Warming” and shares dire predictions regarding a range of topics including dying oceans, greenhouse gas, extreme weather events, and results like hunger and migration. However, the language is quite stilted (e.g., “like our sea-level myopia, it threatens to occlude our picture of what global warming means for us”) and there is even an entire section improbably named The Anthropic Principle (how many high school students can readily explain that idea?). Plus, graphics or images are totally missing. And, despite an array of statistics included in the text, there are no sources listed and no bibliography for further reading. Those additions and a much more conversational tone would have made this text more appealing and more inspirational for its intended young adult audience. Kirkus sums it up well: “Heavy going, both in content and prose style, but filled with critical content.” 

Fortunately, there are a variety of accessible texts on climate change and the environment geared to high school students.

The Raging Storm by Ann Cleeves

THE RAGING STORM by Ann Cleeves is the latest Matthew Venn novel following The Long Call and The Heron's Cry). As this title indicates, the environment of North Devon (with stormy days and often treacherous tides at the seaside) is once again a key feature in building atmosphere and suspense. Inspector Venn and his colleagues, Ross May and Sergeant Jen Rafferty, are out to investigate the death of around-the-world sailing phenom, Jem Rosco. A local boy made good, Rosco had moved back recently to a small village where its inhabitants (local schoolteacher, taxi driver, magistrate, landowners, tavern keeper and so on) are now suspects in his death. Venn quietly leads the investigation, focusing on the many past relationships (several characters were at school together or romantically linked) along with current tensions and jealousies. With plenty of twists and strong character development, THE RAGING STORM received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly (“Cleeves’s fans and newcomers alike will be hungry for the next entry.”).

Life on the Rocks by Juli Berwald

I just ordered LIFE ON THE ROCKS by Juli Berwald because our student researchers have expressed significant interest in coral reefs over the past few years. They are concerned about bleaching and the “death” of these natural habitats. As students research efforts to save the reefs, I often notice frustration with the low priority, slow progress, and fragmented approach to this issue. Berwald, who has a doctorate in ocean science from USC, shares these concerns and argues persuasively that “coral reefs have long been disproportionately undervalued and we have gravely underinvested in their health.” In fact, she subtitles her new book “Building a Future for Coral Reefs” and looks at actions being pursued in the United States, Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, and Australia. She states that to have success at scale requires a “multipronged effect,” combining philanthropy, corporate and government intervention with efforts to “stop burning fossil fuels, manage fishing, and prioritize sanitation.” Berwald just contributed an essay titled “Financing a Healthy Future for Coral Reefs” to The Wall Street Journal; it briefly lays out financial innovations like reef insurance, blue bonds, and debt for nature swaps – all designed to help finance maintenance and recovery of marine environments. She begins with the astounding facts that “corals occupy less than 1% of the ocean’s habitat but are home to a quarter of all marine species, which provide protein in the form of seafood for up to a billion people globally.” Her book perceptively describes the science and complexity of climate change’s impact on the reefs while weaving in the personal story of her daughter’s struggle with mental health – situations requiring a long-term perspective and immediate action. LIFE ON THE ROCKS contains significant notes to aid our researchers and it received a starred review from Booklist (“Teens interested in marine biology will enjoy Berwald's clear-eyed chronicle”).

The Atlas of Disappearing Places

THE ATLAS OF DISAPPEARING PLACES by Christina Conklin and Marina Psaros is all about “Our Coasts and Oceans in the Climate Crisis.” Conklin (an artist, writer, and researcher) and Psaros (a sustainability expert who works with NOAA and USGS) have created an absolutely breathtaking set of illustrations. They chose to focus on about twenty locations around the world (including Camden, Maine; Houston, Texas; Ben Tre, Vietnam; and Gravesend, United Kingdom). For each, they include a map which was created with water-soluble inks on dried “sea lettuce” and digitally layered onto a Google Earth image. Also in each chapter is an exploration of a key term (technology, vulnerability, resilience) related to climate change; plus, graphs, data, and a “speculative vignette about the future.” In a New York Times interview, Psaros says, “using art and storytelling to talk about the science and policy, was a way to hopefully make the issue more accessible to a broader range of people.” Students and faculty will be enthralled – and hopefully prompted to act. Extensive notes, image sources, and a helpful index are included.

Although changes (in ocean chemistry, extreme weather, warming waters and rising sea levels) along the coasts is the focus of THE ATLAS OF DISAPPEARING PLACES, Dan Egan has written an excellent feature for The New York Times about Chicago’s struggles with changing water levels: “A Battle between a Great City and a Great Lake.” Also of possible interest is this New Yorker article written by Bill McKibben – it deals with a variety of climate issues and part is an interview with Conklin about creating THE ATLAS OF DISAPPEARING PLACES. Several other texts about climate change are being added to our collection and we will provide additional reviews here soon. 

Added 8/21- New United Nations Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Change