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 1930

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Teams, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger


Publication year 2011

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Environment

Tags Magical Realism, Fantasy, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Southern Gothic, Modern Classic Fiction

Swamplandia! is a 2011 novel by the American author Karen Russell. It is an adaptation of her short story “Ava Wrestles the Alligator,” first published in the Summer 2006 issue of the literary magazine Zoetrope: All-Story and later collected in her 2006 book of short stories, St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. It was longlisted for the Orange Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.A Miami native, Russell uses magical realism... Read Swamplandia Summary


Publication year 1891

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Gender, Society: Class, Society: Community, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride

Tags Romance, Victorian Period, Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, British Literature, History: World, Victorian Literature / Period

Tess of the D’Urbervilles is Victorian writer Thomas Hardy’s 12th novel. It was first published in 1891 as a serial in the newspaper The Graphic; this serialized publication was followed by a three-volume edition in 1891 and a single volume in 1892. Like many of Hardy’s other realist novels, Tess is set in the fictional, southwestern English region of Wessex, using fictional locations closely modelled after real ones. Hardy’s sympathetic portrayal of a young woman... Read Tess of the D'Urbervilles Summary


Publication year 1817

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Place, Values/Ideas: Fate, Society: Community, Natural World: Environment

Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Grief / Death, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Education, Education, American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2022

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment

Tags Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, Animals


Publication year 1957

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment

Tags Grief / Death


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Fate, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Natural World: Climate

Tags Fantasy, Modern Classic Fiction, Canadian Literature

The Back of the Turtle (2014) is a bestselling novel by Canadian American author Thomas King. King is of Cherokee Greek descent and has garnered acclaim for his novels about Indigenous Canadian experiences, including The Inconvenient Indian and Green Grass Running Water. The Back of the Turtle won King the Governor General’s literary award.The narrative follows Gabriel Quinn, a member of the First Nations community of Lethbridge, Alberta, as he returns to his family’s home... Read The Back of the Turtle Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Art, Emotions/Behavior: Joy, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Memoir / Autobiography, Creative Nonfiction, Science / Nature, Animals


Publication year 2004

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Futurism


Publication year 2020

Genre Graphic Novel/Book, Fiction

Themes Society: Colonialism, Natural World: Environment, Self Discovery

Tags Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, Animals


Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Teams

Tags Mythology, Fantasy, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Animals, Arts / Culture, Climate Change, History: European, American Literature, Children's Literature, Action / Adventure

The Battle of the Labyrinth is a fantasy-adventure novel inspired Greek mythology and written in 2008 by Rick Riordan. It is the fourth in the Percy Jackson series.The novel begins with Percy Jackson is at his freshman orientation at Good High School. Rachel Elizabeth Dare helps him fight two empousai, spectres who were disguised as cheerleaders. Percy flees to Camp Half-Blood, but Rachel remains. Percy is reunited with Annabeth, and they learn Grover is in... Read The Battle of the Labyrinth Summary


Publication year 1942

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Animals, Science / Nature, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Southern Gothic, Reconstruction Era, History: U.S., Southern Literature, American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

“The Bear” is a work of short fiction by William Faulkner, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in May 1942. Faulkner subsequently expanded the story and included it in Go Down, Moses, a collection of related short stories sometimes considered a novel, published later that year. An abbreviated version also appears in his 1955 anthology, Big Woods. As historical fiction set in an imagined Mississippi county, “The Bear” traces a young man’s development in... Read The Bear Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Midlife, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Irish Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, History: U.S., History: World, Politics / Government, Biography

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America (2009) tells the true story of the Great Fire of 1910, which burned 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia, and is believed to be the largest wildfire in United States history. Authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Timothy Egan, the book describes the newly created United States Forest Service effort to stop the fire and details President Teddy Roosevelt’s conservation battles... Read The Big Burn Summary


Publication year 2011

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

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

Author and journalist Charles Fishman published The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water in 2011. This nonfiction book examines the history and origins of water, the rising concern of water scarcity, and our changed relationship with the substance. Fishman asserts that people generally take water for granted, even though it is crucial to the environment and to society. The book examines how we can repair this dismissive attitude, which Fishman contends... Read The Big Thirst Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Journalism, Business / Economics, Sociology, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government

The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster is a nonfiction book published in 2013 by the American journalist Jonathan M. Katz. Katz, a reporter for the Associated Press (AP), gives a detailed, firsthand account of the 2010 earthquake that devastated the Caribbean island nation of Haiti. The book is a journalist's chronicle of the causes and consequences of a natural disaster, how it can... Read The Big Truck That Went By Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Gender, Identity: Indigenous, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Society: Economics


Publication year 1891

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Natural World: Environment

Tags Historical Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Western, Grief / Death, Animals, American Literature, Gothic Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: U.S., Classic Fiction

Not far from Cincinnati in 1830 lies a “great forest” occupied by the scattered homes of early settlers. Among them is an old, neglected cabin with a front door and boarded-up window. For decades, a white-haired man named Murlock has lived there; he looks 70 but is really 50. He lets his yard grow wild and provides for himself by selling animal skins.Murlock is found dead at his cabin, apparently of natural causes. He’s buried... Read The Boarded Window Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Climate, Society: Community

Tags Science / Nature, Philosophy, Self Help, Animals, Philosophy, Biography


Publication year 2001

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Food, Science / Nature, History: World, Arts / Culture

Michael Pollan’s 2001 nonfiction book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, asks the reader to stop considering only the human point of view of nature and to take the perspective of the plants themselves. He writes about how humans have affected the evolution of plants and in turn plants have affected our evolution as well. To Pollan, humans are much like the bumblebee in that we rely on plants as much... Read The Botany Of Desire Summary