The climate crisis is the issue of our time.

Scientists have warned for over 100 years that burning fossil fuels and destroying nature will warm the earth's atmosphere and affect the climate in adverse ways: more severe and intense storms, prolonged heat waves, drought, flooding, wildfires, rising sea levels and ocean acidification.

Urgent Message from a Hot Planet: Navigating the Climate Crisis outlines the science behind global heating and its root causes, provides ways to take action and honors the efforts of the millions of youth and adult allies from around the world working tirelessly to make a difference. Their powerful message: do something now!

Novelist and biologist Ann Eriksson combines her background in ecology with her life experiences to create works of fiction populated with rich characters and grounded in nature. She is the author of the novels In the Hands of Anubis(2009), Decomposing Maggie(2003) and Falling from Grace(2010), which received the Independent Publisher Book Awards Silver Medal for Western Canadian Fiction. Ann was born in Saskatchewan and grew up in the Canadian Prairie provinces, eventually migrating to the West Coast in the late seventies.

Ann Eriksson's profile page

Belle Wuthrich is an illustrator and designer specializing in books for young readers. Based in Vancouver, Belle has contributed to more than a dozen books for kids, a number of which have won awards or been republished internationally, including the Montaigne Medal Award–winning Eyes and Spies: How You’re Tracked and Why You Should Know and the Silver Birch Award nominee Eat Up: An Infographic Exploration of Food.

Belle Wuthrich's profile page

• Commended, Children’s Book Council Best STEM Books List
• Commended, Ontario Library association (OLA) Best Bets
• Commended, Top Grade: CanLit for the Classroom
• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens, starred selection
• Commended, The Globe 100

“This is a no-nonsense, make you feel better read. This is a call to action that points a path for change. Recommended for every library and science classroom.”

Children's Literature

“Comprehensive…For young readers who want a deeper understanding of the climate crisis.”

Booklist

“A heartfelt plea for all of us to do our bit…Stands out from other books on the subject because it is not afraid to point a finger at the root cause of global warming and other instances of environmental degradation.”

Montreal Serai

“Makes a clear case for taking action to keep from feeling hopeless in the face of issues that seem impossible...This is an important read for teens looking for real scientific facts about climate change. It also provides fire for those wanting to make changes.”

Sal's Fiction Addiction

“An excellent choice for students…Hopeful but realistic…I recommend this purchase for all middle school and high school libraries.”

School Library Connection

“I encourage any interested youth – and their parents – to read this book. It is an amazing achievement – comprehensive and informative, stretching from climate science to the intersecting issues of inequality and racism. Ultimately, it is a toolbox for hope.”

Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament, Saanich-Gulf Islands and former leader of the Green Party of Canada

“Prompts and steadies readers’ immersion into these complexities, and they will linger over the illuminating, relatable stories and works by teen environmental activists…Recommended for teens looking for facts about climate change or for those who ­understand the consequences ­already and are committed to environment activism.”

School Library Journal

“Urgent Message From a Hot Planet, with its powerful and urgent message, is a must-read. Guaranteed to spur some readers to action, it is both frightening and hopeful. Highly Recommended.”

CM Reviews

“[An] accessible first-person narrative that makes space for emotions as well as scientific facts and figures...A well-researched and emotionally impactful call to make choices that revitalize nature and our planet.”

Kirkus Reviews

“An antidote to the crushing question that dogs many of us, but young people even more acutely – ‘What can I do about it?’ – this richly illustrated book not only explains the climate crisis in clear, engaging language, but also offers concrete plans of action.”

The Globe and Mail