Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
"What happens when the rhythms, the seasons, the known patterns within which we have built our homes, our lives, our towns, our places, go off-kilter," science journalist Ostrander wonders in her somewhat uneven debut. In examining how the concept of "home" is shifting as the planet becomes increasingly inhospitable, she cites data showing that in 2019 alone, 24.9 million people lost their homes to "climate change impacts." She interviews an Annapolis, Md., architect working to protect the city from rising sea levels, an Alaska administrator who is relocating a rural community because of erosion, and an ecopsychologist researching the connection between "people's emotional health and the natural world." Ostrander finds examples from history of Indigenous engineering solutions to address rising sea levels, such as coastal shell mounds, that are far more effective than the "shimmering new real estate developments, glassy luxury condos, palatial beach houses, and boxy McMansions" across the Atlantic Coast. Her writing is strong, but she tends to get sidetracked with undeveloped ideas ("We will need a new set of stories about what it looks like to live on Earth in a manner that doesn't destroy our future"). Still, those willing to sift through the chaff will find fascinating musings on a changing planet. (Aug.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Seattle-based science journalist Ostrander has closely followed several environmental stories over the past few years. She visited communities affected by major wildfires in eastern Washington State, coastal flooding in Florida, melting permafrost in Alaska, and oil refinery pollution in California. She predicts many people will be displaced as the climate crisis intensifies: a global estimate in 2019 was 25 million. Several chapters touch on human evolution and one's feelings of home and care for one's surroundings. While the situations are tragic, the author focuses on the experiences and struggles of a few determined individuals. Their leadership mitigated damage, or aided resilience and recovery. A point made throughout is that humans have to live with nature in its new manifestations. For some, that may mean permanent relocation to safer areas. Decades of global government pledges haven't reduced the rate of climate change. Ostrander believes grassroots concern and action is necessary to counter the overheating of the biosphere. Examples include preservation of the Los Angeles aquifer. VERDICT This compassionate reporting brings the reality of climate change to U.S. Americans.--David R. Conn
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An examination of the meaning of home in the current state of climate change. "Everywhere, the weather, the sky, the water, even the terrain on which we have built our homes is becoming unruly," writes science journalist Ostrander in this disturbing yet beautifully written book. As the Earth continues to warm--a problem caused primarily by the fossil fuel demands of humans--weather extremes such as severe drought, megafires, and catastrophic flooding are becoming commonplace. Near-constant fires in the American West continue to force people from their homes, as do the increasing number of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Gulf and along the Atlantic Coast. For decades, as Ostrander shows throughout, researchers have "called for a reckoning with evidence that had been ignored." As the author points out--along with countless other experts before her--we can no longer ignore the evidence, and "everything that we took for granted is now in question." Focusing on the U.S., Ostrander shares four memorable narratives about specific areas already suffering from the effects of climate change: a small town in Alaska being forced to relocate due to thawing of the land; a community in northern California attempting to recover from repeated refinery pollution; towns in Florida and Maryland facing the dire consequences of rising sea levels; and Pateros, Washington, where residents cleaned up rubble and debris after a fire destroyed the town. Interspersed among these stories are Ostrander's pertinent, engaging essays that speak to the theme of home, including the loss of safety and the homesickness that many will likely face from being uprooted. Speaking to the strength and power of community, the author writes, "to have safe homes in the twenty-first century, we cannot keep acting as if we are isolated individuals." A hopeful, urgent, and universal message about our collective ability to face the climate changes we can no longer ignore. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
