EARTH IN THE HOT SEAT

Like many others, Delano sounds the alarm—but in ways that her young audience is particularly likely to heed. Tucking in plenty of memorable comments from concerned scientists—“Things that normally happen in geologic time are happening during the span of a human lifetime. It’s like watching the Statue of Liberty melt”—she gives commonly accepted causes, current signs and projected effects of global warming a coherent once-over. She then proceeds to explain just what a “carbon footprint” is and proposes strategies both large-scale and personal for reducing it. Spreads of action tips, news items and mini-interviews separate the chapters. Featuring plenty of telling photographs—notably a set of film stills that includes a view of an SUV surrounded by 25 black balloons representing the amount of CO2 produced by a gallon of gas and a river of rubber ducks showing the average number of daily showers we each take in a lifetime, among others—plus a terrific multimedia resource list, this offers both cogent arguments for being concerned and feasible pathways to an eco-activist mindset. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)