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 2014
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Environment
Tags Poverty
Publication year 2004
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Natural World: Environment
Tags Southern Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, Southern Gothic, Drama / Tragedy, Historical Fiction
Saints at the River is Ron Rash’s first novel. Before the book’s appearance in 2004, Rash established a reputation as one of the most promising young voices in contemporary Appalachian literature as a poet and short story writer. In his poetry collections, Rash, a native of rural South Carolina, captured the beauty of the Carolina wilderness and, at the same time, investigated the challenges of preserving that wilderness in the new millennium. His award-winning short... Read Saints at the River Summary
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Relationships: Family, Natural World: Environment
Tags Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Arts / Culture
Same Sun Here, co-written by Silas House and Neela Vaswani, details a year in the lives of two young people: an Indian immigrant living in New York City, and a small-town boy from Kentucky. Written as a series of letters between the two main characters, this middle grade novel is narrated by each author writing from the perspective of a separate character. Published in 2011, the book received the Nautilus Book Award, the E.B. White... Read Same Sun Here Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Life/Time: The Future, Life/Time: The Past, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Music, Values/Ideas: Art, Society: Colonialism
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Indigenous, Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction
Publication year 2001
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Teams, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Action / Adventure, Realistic Fiction, Survival Fiction, Children's Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1962
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Environment
Tags Science / Nature, History: World, Classic Fiction, Politics / Government
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring is widely regarded as a foundational text of the 20th century environmental movement. Originally published as a series in The New Yorker, Carson’s essays carefully articulate the impacts of widespread chemical use for insect and plant control. Throughout the text, Carson emphasizes the ways that humans disregard the interrelation of species on earth, and argues that as a result, humans are at a pivotal moment. If methods of insect control are... Read Silent Spring Summary
Publication year 1994
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment
Tags Historical Fiction, Natural Disaster
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Natural World: Environment, Self Discovery
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, History: World, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year 2011
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Politics / Government, Climate Change, Education, Education, Science / Nature, Philosophy, Philosophy
Publication year 1865
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Relationships: Family
Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature, Transcendentalism, American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1937
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Femininity, Natural World: Environment
Tags Classic Fiction, Japanese Literature, Romance, Asian Literature, History: World
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata was originally published episodically in Japanese literary journals between 1935 and 1937. It was finally published as a complete version in 1948. The novel takes place on the snowy northwestern coast of Japan and tells the story of the ill-fated romance between a geisha named Komako and her wealthy client, Shimamura. In the intimate setting of the onsen, Kawabata explores the Commodification of Female Talent and Affection, Landscapes as Metaphors... Read Snow Country Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment
Tags Lyric Poem, Free verse
Publication year 1921
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia
Tags Lyric Poem
Publication year 1609
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: Environment
Tags Romance, Arts / Culture, Elizabethan Era
William Shakespeare is the best-known author of the English Renaissance—also known as the Early Modern Period and the Elizabethan Age. Though readers’ attention tends to be more riveted toward his plays, Shakespeare published 154 sonnets during his exceptionally prolific career, in addition to the longer-form poems Venus and Adonis (1593), The Rape of Lucrece (1594), and The Phoenix and the Turtle (1601). Fifteen editions of Venus and Adonis—a poem in the form of 199 six-line... Read Sonnet 18 Summary
Publication year 1609
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Lyric Poem, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1980
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment
Tags American Literature, Agriculture
Publication year 1986
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Space & The Universe, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure
Speaker for the Dead (1986) is the second book in the Ender sextet written by Orson Scott Card. Card is a renowned American science fiction author and has won numerous awards for his writing, including four for Speaker of the Dead—the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award for Best Novel, and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.Speaker for the Dead is set... Read Speaker for the Dead Summary
Publication year 2006
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Environment, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy
Tally Youngblood has been transformed many times over. First, she was an ordinary Ugly, awaiting the cosmetic surgery that will make her into a more socially acceptable Pretty. Now, Tally has become a Special, or a surgically enhanced super-human, as well as a member of an elite group that call themselves the Cutters. In Scott Westerfeld’s Specials, a young adult novel published in 2006, Tally is tasked with upholding the conventions of her socially stratified... Read Specials Summary
Publication year 1921
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Climate, Emotions/Behavior: Hope
Tags Free verse, Imagist poetry