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Two degrees / Alan Gratz.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Scholastic Press, 2022Edition: First editionDescription: 365 pages ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781338735673
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: "When three children endure separate climate change disasters--a wildfire in the California woods, a close encounter with a hungry polar bear in Canada, and a massive hurricane in Florida--they emerge from their experiences committed to changing the world."-- Provided by publisher.
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Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Shelving location Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Phillipsburg Free Public Library YA Fiction YA Fiction YA GRA Available 36748002522912
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

#1 New York Times bestselling author Alan Gratz ( Refugee; Ground Zero ) is back, tackling the urgent topic of climate change in this breathtaking, action-packed novel that will keep readers turning pages while making their own plans to better the world.

Fire. Ice. Flood. Three climate disasters.

Four kids fighting for their lives.

Akira is riding her horse in the California woods when a wildfire sparks--and grows scarily fast. How can she make it to safety when there are flames everywhere?

Owen and his best friend, George, are used to seeing polar bears on the snowy Canadian tundra. But when one bear gets way too close for comfort, do the boys have any chance of surviving?

Natalie hunkers down at home as a massive hurricane barrels toward Miami. When the floodwaters crash into her house, Natalie is dragged out into the storm--with nowhere to hide.

Akira, Owen, George, and Natalie are all swept up in the devastating effects of climate change. They are also connected in ways that will shock them--and could alter their destinies forever.

Bestselling author Alan Gratz is at the top of his game, shining a light on our increasingly urgent climate crisis while spinning an action-packed story that will keep readers hooked--and inspire them to take action.

"When three children endure separate climate change disasters--a wildfire in the California woods, a close encounter with a hungry polar bear in Canada, and a massive hurricane in Florida--they emerge from their experiences committed to changing the world."-- Provided by publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Deftly balancing four teens' perilous, climate change--related experiences, Gratz (Ground Zero) specifically centers scenarios around the earth's warming by two degrees. With urgency, the tense narrative alternates between three story lines, following 13-year-old Norwegian American Akira Kristiansen, who rides her horse through the Sierra Nevada range in California as a wildfire spreads; white 13-year-old Owen Mackenzie and his Mushkegowuk best friend George Gruyère in Churchill, Manitoba--the "polar bear capital of the world"--who are attacked by a hungry mother polar bear after they get too close to her cubs; and Puerto Rican seventh grader Natalie Torres, who must evacuate as a hurricane heads for Miami. Gratz renders pulse-pounding ecological tales and high-stakes calamity with the brisk pacing of a thriller, interweaving the cast's thoughtfully wrought plights while ensuring that all survival-oriented strands prove equally urgent. This gripping, timely tale offers a meditative call to action about a global crisis, culminating in a tidy, if didactic, resolution. Ages 8--12. (Oct.)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4--7--A fictional story about climate change geared for the middle grade audience. It is told through the eyes of four middle school students, all individuals battling climate disasters in North America; the parallel plots are linked by climate events. In Nevada, Japanese American Akira Kristiansen witnesses giant sequoias catching fire, which seems impossible. She is separated from her family as she struggles to survive the extraordinary wildfire. In Manitoba, eighth grade boys Owen Mackenzie (white) and George Gruyère (Mushkegowuk) face ravenous polar bears. In Miami, Puerto Rican Florida resident Natalie Torres is washed away by a hurricane. All characters suffer losses and scars. Gratz writes at the end of the book that he was inspired by Greta Thunberg and other climate protestors and wanted to boost their signal. The chapters are short and flow well enough to keep the reader's attention. Gratz drives home the point that we are all very closely connected when it comes to climate change, and that everyone should be looking at the big picture. VERDICT Gratz urges readers to see that what is happening around them isn't in isolation, but affects everyone around the world. Fans of Gratz and the "I Survived" series will welcome this action-packed title.--Lisa Gieskes

Kirkus Book Review

In parallel narratives, four young people simultaneously experience the harrowing effects of climate change. If terrifying readers is an effective way to spur them to take the climate crisis seriously, Gratz does an admirable job, as he plunges his middle schoolers into desperate, life-threatening straits in three wildly dangerous scenarios. For Akira Kristiansen, a peaceful visit to a treasured grove of Sierra Nevada giant sequoias turns into a frantic scramble to outrace a roaring megafire. In Churchill, Manitoba, eighth grade dudes Owen Mackenzie, a White boy, and George Gruyère (Mushkegowuk) are viciously mauled and then stalked by polar bears. At the same time, Puerto Rican Florida resident Natalie Torres is whirled off in the storm surge when a Category 5 hurricane hits Miami. Along with acknowledging in his afterword that the specific incidents portrayed are fictional but are inspired by actual events happening around the world, not just in North America, the author pulls his characters--dedicated climate activists all in the wake of their narrow escapes from death--together to deliver speeches at an international climate rally at the end. "It's your world," Gratz finishes in his author's note, "your future. It's up to you to decide what you want that future world to look like, and what you can do to make it happen." Lecture-y toward the end, but the scary message is delivered with wrenching, dramatic urgency. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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