DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST

A teenage Northern Irish naturalist chronicles his struggles to protect the natural world around him.

In this impressive debut, McAnulty takes us through a year in his life (from age 13 to 14) as an environmentalist juggling the demands of being a teenager with autism. Three other members of his immediate family are also on the spectrum: his mother, brother Lorcan, and sister Bláthnaid. His father is not. “I have the heart of a naturalist, the head of a would-be scientist, and bones of someone who is already wearied by the apathy and destruction wielded against the natural world,” writes the author. “The outpourings on these pages express my connection to wildlife, try to explain the way I see the world, and describe how we weather the storms as a family.” Exploring the wild with his family provides the opportunity to recharge and escape the bombardment of noise, feelings of claustrophobia, and torment from others that he faces at school. From McAnulty’s diary entries, it is clear that he and his loving, affectionate family are always in search of adventure. During the year he recounts, the author also endured the emotional strain of his family’s move to a different town, which required him to switch schools. For such a young author, McAnulty displays an astounding ability to capture and articulate his feelings and the nuances of the natural world, and his sincere compassion and lyrical prose captivate: “Above the bulrushes, a cloud of hoverflies. The light is dappled and sepia. I’m dazzled by the delicacy of the moment. My insides explode, words ricochet outside-in. I hold them close, because capturing this on a page allows me to feel it all over again.” The author also implores others to do their part in protecting the environment, finding local action to be the most effective. “As nature is pushed to the fringes of our built-up world,” he writes, “it’s the small pockets of wild resistance that can help.”

A heartfelt, uplifting, hopeful memoir from a talented new voice in nature writing.