Climate fiction and dystopian books for children

Take a look at these recommended dystopian and cli-fi (climate fiction) books for Greener Libraries Week, suitable for middle grade readers.

Saving Celeste

In this incredibly moving and powerful story about climate change by one of France's greatest writers for children, the world is run by !ndustry and the only thing that matters is to buy, buy, buy. People live in crowded cities where cars are stacked vertically and shopping centres run miles into the sky. On the day Celeste starts school on the 110th floor of a tower block, she meets a lonely, young boy. The next day she doesn't return. Her blood has become as polluted as the seas and rivers. On a mission to save her, the boy battles the forces of !ndustry and takes her far, far away. Will the world realise the truth of Celeste's disease? Will there be time for her, and the planet, to recover?

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City of Rust

Railey dreams of winning the drone races with her bio-robotic gecko friend, Atti. But when a bounty hunter crashes their biggest race yet, the pair are forced to flee to the feared Junker clans who mine the rubbish orbiting the Earth. Rescued by a couple of Junker kids, they discover a danger bigger than anything they'd imagined - but can three kids, a gecko and an ancient computer save the world against the huge trash bomb (and its power-crazed creator) threatening to destroy the world?

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Floodland

Imagine that a few years from now England is covered by water, and Norwich is an island. Zoe, left behind in the confusion when her parents escaped, survives there as best she can. Alone and desperate among marauding gangs, she manages to dig a derelict boat out of the mud and gets away to Eels Island. But Eels Island, whose raggle-taggle inhabitants are dominated by the strange boy Dooby, is full of danger too. The belief that she will one day find her parents spurs Zoe on to a dramatic escape in a story of courage and determination that is handled with warmth and humanity.

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The Last Bear

There are no polar bears left on Bear Island. At least, that's what April's father tells her when his scientific research takes them to this remote Arctic outpost for six months. But one endless summer night, April meets one. He is starving, lonely and a long way from home. Determined to save him, April begins the most important journey of her life. This moving story will win the hearts of children the world over and show them that no one is too young or insignificant to make a difference. 'The Last Bear' is a celebration of the love between a child and an animal, a battle cry for our world and an irresistible adventure with a heart as big as a bear's.

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Spark

Ash has always lived in Last Village, lonely since the day his father left and never came back. The world is unbearably hot, water is drying up, and life is hard. After a vicious thunderstorm, Ash wakes to find that the village's water has completely run out, and all the other villagers have mysteriously disappeared. Accompanied by the outcast Bronwyn, Ash sets off in search of water, for answers about what happened to the villagers, with hope they might find 'The Kingdom' - a rumoured land to the north where life still flourishes. Ash and Bronwyn have to survive a journey across an arid landscape, discovering that other people out there are even more dangerous than the lightning strikes that follow them. Then they reach The Wall - beyond it, something impossible. Lying in wait are the answers Ash is searching for, and maybe even the truth about what happened to his father.

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Melt

Yutu lives in a remote, Arctic village with his elderly grandmother. Their traditional way of life is threatened by the changing snow and ice, which melts faster every year. Bea is trying to adapt to yet another new school. Worse still, her father's new job takes up any spare time, and his behaviour becomes odd and secretive. On a trip she hopes will fix things, their fates take a drastic turn and Bea's life becomes entwined with Yutu's in a way she could never have imagined. Together, they are locked in a desperate race for survival.

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The Wild Before

One frosty winter's night, a pure white calf is born on an ordinary muddy farm by the light of a silver moon. This is the legendary Mooncalf, whose arrival has been foretold since the dawn of time. According to a dream passed down from animal to animal, if the calf dies, a great terribleness will come - rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire, the end of all things and Little Hare vows to persuade all the animals to protect Mooncalf, whatever the cost. But it's easier said than done, and soon Little Hare realises that he is the only one who can save the world.

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Fenn Halflin and the Fearzero

In a world that has been ravaged by flooding, Fenn Halflin learns the truth about his past - a secret that forces him to flee the safety of his home as he is chased across the vast sea by the ruthless Terra Firma and their cold-blooded leader, Chilstone. Finding shelter on a decaying island, Fenn is taken in by child survivors in hiding, and he begins a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the Terra Firma, who will stop at nothing to find him. But as Chilstone's dreaded Fearzero ship appears on the horizon, and the water levels continue to rise, it seems that Fenn's hopes of escape will be washed away for ever.

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Future Hopes

In this collection of compelling short stories, authors including M.G. Leonard, Neal Shusterman and Tolá Okogwu offer hope for our planet in the face of climate change. Skyscraper farms. Insects for dinner. Guerilla gardening. Nine authors pose ingenious and thought-provoking solutions to the climate crisis in this anthology of climate fiction.

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Global

This is a powerful, hopeful and timely story about the real effects of climate change: two young people on different continents whose lives are catastrophically changed by global warming. A graphic novel with glorious colour artwork throughout for children of all ages - from Eoin Colfer, previously Irish Children's Laureate, and the team behind Illegal, and his bestselling Artemis Fowl graphic novels.

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