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The NOAA Planet Stewards Book Club has a great line-up for this academic year. Scroll down to see the titles, brief descriptions, dates, and connection links for each meeting. Discussion questions will be posted approximately one week before each event.
To see previously selected books and discussion questions, look at our Book Club Archive Page.
To make sure you receive reminders about Book Club events, sign up to our mailing list.
General information for participating in our Book Club. Join us as we explore new and thought-provoking topics. All are welcome!
January 14, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Video Conference Log In: meet.google.com/mxo-fkqc-owb
Phone Dial In #: (US) +1 484-641-8305
Pin:732 637 522#
World Without Fish connects all the dots—biology, economics, evolution, politics, climate, history, culture, food, and nutrition—in a way that kids can really understand. It describes how the fish we most commonly eat, including tuna, salmon, cod, and swordfish, could disappear within 50 years, and the domino effect it would have—oceans teeming with jellyfish and turning pinkish orange from algal blooms; seabirds disappearing, then reptiles, then mammals. It describes the back-and-forth dynamic of fishermen and scientists. It covers the effects of industrialized fishing, and how bottom-dragging nets are turning the ocean floor into a desert.
The answer? Support sustainable fishing. World Without Fish tells kids exactly what they can do: Find out where those fish sticks come from. Tell your parents what’s good to buy, and what’s not. Ask the waiter if the fish on the menu is line-caught And follow simple rules: Use less plastic, and never eat endangered fish like bluefin tuna.
Interwoven with the book is a 12-page full-color graphic novel. Each beautifully illustrated chapter opener links to form a larger fictional story that complements the text. Hand in hand, they create a Silent Spring for a new generation.
Listen to an Audio “short” of chapter one.
Kurlansky uses Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species as the foundation for his arguments, even beginning each chapter with an epigraph from Darwin. What aspects of the Theory of Evolution does he refer to when he discusses fish populations?
What is the difference between biological vs. commercial extinction? Darwin asserted that population size is necessary to maintain a species. Are biological and commercial extinction functionally the same, that is, is the outcome of each likely to be the same?
What does Kurlansky mean by reverse evolution (p. 5)? Is this an accurate use of the term ‘evolution’?
Kurlansky writes that youth are the luckiest generation with many opportunities and responsibilities to make a difference and save the world. Why do you think Kurlansky chose to use the word “lucky” for the position of youth in the world today?
Kurlansky makes suggestions about how youth can help to encourage adults to be responsible about sourcing fish (ch. 11). Were there ideas about how to responsibly buy and eat fish that resonate with you, that seem more (or less) doable?
Kurlansky mentions more than once that youth (but really anyone) should be respectful when challenging restaurant staff, fish sellers, or officials. How important is a respectful demeanor when protesting or challenging a system?
Science got the fish story so wrong in the nineteenth century when Huxley and others assured the British government that it was impossible to overfish. How much damage did this attitude do to fish populations and to scientists’ credibility?
Can you think of instances where scientists ignored the knowledge of Indigenous or working people? Do you think this is one reason that some people distrust science today?
Kurlansky does not recommend boycotting fish or fishermen. This is because fish have great nutritional value and because a great many people’s livelihoods depend on fishing. Do you feel that we should find ways to continue to eat fish?
Kurlansky spends considerable time describing the interaction of organisms in ecosystems. Then he states that there is no one in charge of ecosystems (pp. 103, 105). What does he mean, and why does that make it difficult to develop and enforce sustainable fishing regulations?
There are many coastal regions where tourism has replaced fishing as a driver of the economy. Is this sustainable? Will economies continue to thrive where they depend on visitors visiting and spending money rather than an economy based on a tangible product?
Compare and contrast: How is rotating fishing grounds similar to or different from rotating agricultural crops?
Kurlansky notes human civilization requires diversity just as species need diversity to survive; he decries the loss of cultures and languages. Do you agree that different cultures are necessary for the survival of our species?
February 11, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Video Conference Log In: meet.google.com/mxo-fkqc-owb
Phone Dial In #: (US) +1 484-641-8305
Pin:732 637 522#
Why are African Americans so underrepresented when it comes to interest in nature, outdoor recreation, and environmentalism? In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans. Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the "great outdoors" and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces.
Drawing on a variety of sources from film, literature, and popular culture, and analyzing different historical moments, including the establishment of the Wilderness Act in 1964 and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Finney reveals the perceived and real ways in which nature and the environment are racialized in America. Looking toward the future, she also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns.
Coming soon.
March 11, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Video Conference Log In: meet.google.com/mxo-fkqc-owb
Phone Dial In #: (US) +1 484-641-8305
Pin:732 637 522#
In 1810, a sister and brother uncover the fossilized skull of an unknown animal in the cliffs on the south coast of England. With its long snout and prominent teeth, it might be a crocodile – except that it has a huge, bulbous eye.
Remarkable Creatures is the story of Mary Anning, who has a talent for finding fossils, and whose discovery of ancient marine reptiles such as that ichthyosaur shakes the scientific community and leads to new ways of thinking about the creation of the world.
Working in an arena dominated by middle-class men, however, Mary finds herself out of step with her working-class background. In danger of being an outcast in her community, she takes solace in an unlikely friendship with Elizabeth Philpot, a prickly London spinster with her own passion for fossils.
The strong bond between Mary and Elizabeth sees them through struggles with poverty, rivalry and ostracism, as well as the physical dangers of their chosen obsession. It reminds us that friendship can outlast storms and landslides, anger and jealousy.
This book doesn’t seem like historical fiction but rather fictionalized history because all of the characters are historic figures. Do you think this is a fair or reasonable characterization of the book and others like it? Why or why not?
On page three of the book Mary says “Lightning has struck me all my life. Just once it was real.” What are some examples of Mary metaphorically feeling lightning strike her at other times in her life?
The author, Chevalier, offers a unique way to build characterizations: Elizabeth identifies people according to the body part they “lead with”. For example, Mary Anning leads with her eyes, her mother leads with her working hands, and the Days lead with their chests. Does this help you visualize the characters or their personalities? What body part do you think you “lead with”?
Like the Victorian era which began as this story progressed, nineteenth century English society was stratified by class and gender, and women were not considered able or interested in scientific ideas. What events or ideas in the book struck you as shocking, frustrating, or interesting?
Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpott are dynamic characters that they change over the course of the book. Their changes mirror changes in the scientific understanding of fossils that occurs at that time in history. What are some examples of changes to Mary and Elizabeth over the course of their friendship? How does the author use dialog between characters to illustrate these changes?
We teach students that creativity is part of science. On page 74 Elizabeth describes Lord Henley as “a man of little imagination who found it impossible to see the world through another’s eyes. It made his interest in fossils preposterous. Truly to appreciate what fossils are requires a leap of imagination he was not capable of making.” Do you think she is correct? What do you think the role of creativity was in understanding geologic history and the history of life during the Victorian era?
Mary and Elizabeth - and Mary’s mother Molly, consider the difference between ‘hunters’ and ‘collectors’ - and eventually ‘dealers’. How do they describe the difference between a ‘hunter’ and a ‘collector’? Do you think the distinction is valid?
Interestingly, Georges Cuvier is considered the founder of comparative anatomy, and he believed in extinction but not evolution. Why was his opinion so important to scientists of the day, and so important to Elizabeth, that she felt it necessary to go all the way to London alone to protect Mary's reputation?
April 8, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Video Conference Log In: meet.google.com/mxo-fkqc-owb
Phone Dial In #: (US) +1 484-641-8305
Pin:732 637 522#
Crossing the ocean on a slave ship, working the land under threat of violence, eluding racists in nighttime chases through moonless fields and woodlands, stumbling across a murder victim hanging from a tree—these are images associated with the African American experience of nature. Over the decades, many African Americans have come to accept that natural areas are dangerous. Unfamiliar with the culture's rich environmental heritage, people overlook the knowledge and skills required at every turn in black history: thriving in natural settings in ancestral African lands, using and discovering farming techniques to survive during slavery and Reconstruction, and navigating escape routes to freedom, all of which required remarkable outdoor talents and a level of expertise far beyond what's needed to hike or camp in a national forest or park.
In Rooted in the Earth, environmental historian Dianne D. Glave overturns the stereotype that a meaningful attachment to nature and the outdoors is contrary to the black experience. In tracing the history of African Americans' relationship with the environment, emphasizing the unique preservation-conservation aspect of black environmentalism, and using her storytelling skills to re-create black naturalists of the past, Glave reclaims the African American heritage of the land. This book is a groundbreaking, important first step toward getting back into nature, not only for personal growth but for the future of the planet.
Coming soon.
May 13, 2025
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
Video Conference Log In: meet.google.com/mxo-fkqc-owb
Phone Dial In #: (US) +1 484-641-8305
Pin:732 637 522#
Exodus, a startling, thrilling novel set in a dystopian future ravaged by global warming.
It is 2099 - and the world is gradually drowning, as mighty Arctic ice floes melt, the seas rise and land disappears forever beneath storm-tossed waves. For fifteen-year-old Mara, her family and community, huddled on the fast-disappearing island of Wing, the new century brings flight. Packed into tiny boats, a terrifying journey begins to a bizarre city that rises into the sky, built on the drowned remains of the ancient city of Glasgow. But even here there is no safety and, shut out of the city, Mara realizes they are asylum-seekers in a world torn between high-tech wizardry and the most primitive injustice. To save her people, Mara must not only find a way into the city, but also search for a new land and a new home...
Coming soon.
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