Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

Image: Kobo Originals

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~7 hours. Read by Meegwun Fairbrother. Kobo Originals, March, 2018. (Review of e-audio borrowed from public library.)

Happy Tuesday! Teen Tuesday features The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline. This sci/fi dystopian in set in the future, in Canada. Human-caused climate change has resulted in an apocalypse. Not only has the physical landscape changed with rising sea levels, but people have stopped dreaming and this has resulted in mass madness. Government officials realize that Indigenous people seem to be immune and continue to dream, so "Recruiters" have been tasked with rounding them up and bringing them to "facilities" called schools, where they are never heard from again. Our narrator, Frenchie, is a sixteen-year-old orphan who has been part of a bonded band of mostly youth, led by an elder named Miig for the past six years. Surviving in the wilderness is rough and requires constant vigilance. This riveting story is believable and the writing is layered and lovely. Frenchie's story is honest and raw. 

The narrator's performance was well-paced and engaging. Teens who enjoy dystopian literature will find much to admire here. The Marrow Thieves was published in 2017 and won the Kirkus Prize for Young People's Literature and also made the School Library Journal Best Books List, as well as the YALSA Best Fiction list among other honors. A sequel, Hunting by Stars was published in 2021 and I need to read it. Happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday: Meltdown: Discover the Earth's Irreplaceable Glaciers and Find Out What You Can Do to Save Them by Anita Sanchez

Image: Workman Publishing

Meltdown: Discover the Earth's Irreplaceable Glaciers and Find Out What You Can Do to Save Them by Anita Sanchez. Illustrated by Lily Padula. Workman Publishing Company, November 1, 2022. 9781523509508.

Waiting on Wednesday features a non-fiction/ informational title I'm interested in reading and adding to my middle school library collection. Meltdown: Discover the Earth's Irreplaceable Glaciers and Find Out What You Can Do to Save Them by Anita Sanchez will release on November 1.

Publisher synopsis:

Meet the glaciers—before they disappear. Meltdown: Discover Earth's Irreplaceable Glaciers and Learn What You Can Do to Save Them is a kids’ guide to the glorious but endangered world of glaciers. Glaciers may not be as well-known as rain forests or coral reefs, but they are just as vital to the health of the planet, and just as threatened by climate change. 

Packed with information, grounded in the latest science, with lively writing and illustrations throughout (including graphs, charts, infographics, photographs, and full-page art), Meltdown gives readers an eye-opening overview of glaciers and how important they are: There are over 100,000 glaciers covering 10% of earth’s landmass, that hold almost three-quarters of the planet's fresh water, and act as protective shields to cool the atmosphere and combat climate change. We learn how glaciers were formed (some over two million years ago), how they move and carve the planet's landscape, and how scientists study them (the bluer the ice, the older it is). We learn the secrets of earth’s climate history hidden deep in a glacier’s core—and discover how climate change is causing glaciers to melt at unprecedented rates, putting the health of the planet in jeopardy.

But we are not left without hope. The final chapter offers positive steps readers can take to become climate activists, reduce their carbon footprint, and save the glaciers.

Fact Friday: Kids Fight Climate Change: Act Now to Be a #2minutesuperhero by Martin Dorey and illustrated by Tim Wesson.

Image: Candlewick Press

Kids Fight Climate Change: Act Now to Be a #2minutesuperhero by Martin Dorey and illustrated by Tim Wesson. 128 p. #2minutesuperhero series. Candlewick Press, March, 2022. 9781536223484. (Review of finished copy courtesy of publisher.)

Happy Friday! Happy April! It sure doesn't feel like spring. March did not go out "like a lamb," as the old adage suggests. Our weather has been a bit crazy, and this is a nice segue into our featured title. Fact Friday features Kids Fight Climate Change: Act Now to Be a #2minutesuperhero by Martin Dorey and illustrated by Tim Wesson. This book is part of the #2minutesuperhero series, which is aimed at encouraging young people to become environmentally aware.

The history and science of climate change are explained in the introduction. The author has created seventeen missions that can be accomplished in under two minutes by a young person, mostly without the help of an adult. Some are more easily accomplished than others and range in points from five to twenty. Each are designed to make the reader more environmentally aware and to encourage changing habits such as, do you really need a ride to school each day? Can you walk or perhaps car-pool? Did you know that even your choice of clothing can have an impact on the environment?

The author is an avid surfer and founder of the #2minutebeachclean movement. What's two minutes out of your day? Think about it. If each of us took two or more minutes out of each day to do something for the environment, that could add up quickly to something positive for all of us.