Earth Day

Every April, we honor our planet on Earth Day with a selection of works celebrating the natural world. With titles ranging from stories of wilderness survival to nonfiction works about conservation and sustainability, this Collection features a broad spectrum of ideas regarding nature and our role within it.

Publication year 1921

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia

Tags Lyric Poem


Publication year 1609

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: Environment

Tags Romance, Arts / Culture, Elizabethan Era

William Shakespeare is the best-known author of the English Renaissance—also known as the Early Modern Period and the Elizabethan Age. Though readers’ attention tends to be more riveted toward his plays, Shakespeare published 154 sonnets during his exceptionally prolific career, in addition to the longer-form poems Venus and Adonis (1593), The Rape of Lucrece (1594), and The Phoenix and the Turtle (1601). Fifteen editions of Venus and Adonis—a poem in the form of 199 six-line... Read Sonnet 18 Summary


Publication year 1609

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Lyric Poem, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1980

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags American Literature, Agriculture


Publication year 1986

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Space & The Universe, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Society: Colonialism, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure

Speaker for the Dead (1986) is the second book in the Ender sextet written by Orson Scott Card. Card is a renowned American science fiction author and has won numerous awards for his writing, including four for Speaker of the Dead—the Hugo Award for Best Novel, the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Science Fiction Chronicle Reader Award for Best Novel, and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.Speaker for the Dead is set... Read Speaker for the Dead Summary


Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Environment, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Beauty

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy

Tally Youngblood has been transformed many times over. First, she was an ordinary Ugly, awaiting the cosmetic surgery that will make her into a more socially acceptable Pretty. Now, Tally has become a Special, or a surgically enhanced super-human, as well as a member of an elite group that call themselves the Cutters. In Scott Westerfeld’s Specials, a young adult novel published in 2006, Tally is tasked with upholding the conventions of her socially stratified... Read Specials Summary


Publication year 1921

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Climate, Emotions/Behavior: Hope

Tags Free verse, Imagist poetry


Publication year 2012

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Fathers, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger

Tags Fantasy, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, Chinese Literature, Arts / Culture


Publication year 1972

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Society: Community, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology, Science / Nature


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Regret, Identity: Gender, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Midlife, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Mothers, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 1923

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Beauty, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment

Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a short, structured poem written in 1922 by the American poet Robert Frost, one of the foremost poets of the 20th century. The poem was originally published in 1923 in the magazine New Republic, and then in Frost’s poetry collection New Hampshire. The poem explores themes of nature, beauty, duty, life, and death, and is written using simple and accessible language that has made it beloved by... Read Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening Summary


Publication year 1923

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Climate, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Harlem Renaissance


Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Fate, Relationships: Teams

Tags Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, Realistic Fiction, Natural Disaster

In Roland Smith’s 2011 adventure novel, Storm Runners, three middle-grade students struggle to survive and find shelter during a hurricane after their school bus crashes. While a team of rescuers drives toward the disaster in search of the missing kids, the three students use all their skills and brainpower simply to stay alive.Award-winning author Smith spent decades working as a zookeeper and world-traveling animal rescuer. He has turned his experiences into award-winning novels and non-fiction... Read Storm Runners Summary


Publication year 2007

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family

Tags Science / Nature, Southern Literature, History: World, Historical Fiction

American writer and essayist Ann Pancake’s debut novel Strange as This Weather Has Been is a work of fiction that blends elements of Pancake’s own upbringing in Appalachia to tell the tale of a present-day coal mining family. Published in 2007, this is a character-driven novel with a ticking clock. Set amid the turmoil of West Virginia, Pancake’s characters are thrust into one of the most dangerous regions of the country, where strip mining has... Read Strange as this Weather Has Been Summary


Publication year 2016

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags Sociology, Politics / Government, History: U.S., American Literature, Social Science, Business / Economics, History: World, Social Justice

Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016) is an in-depth exploration of the rise of the Tea Party movement in Louisiana by sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild. In an effort to understand the Tea Party and bolster her empathy for political opinions oppositional to her own, Hochschild spent five years getting to know residents and conducting interviews in and around Lake Charles, Louisiana. Hochschild argues that by understanding one another’s... Read Strangers in Their Own Land Summary


Publication year 1945

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Identity: Gender

Tags Historical Fiction, Agriculture, Children's Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Classic Fiction


Publication year 1905

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Femininity, Society: Education, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Gender / Feminism, Indian Literature, Asian Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

The author of “Sultana’s Dream” is Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, popularly known as Begum Rokeya (“Begum” is the Urdu equivalent of Mrs.). The story is a science fiction social satire that features a feminist utopia called Ladyland. As the title suggests, the narrative takes the form of a dream that the narrator experiences. The narrator is a woman called Sultana (the Arabic title for an empress or the wife of a sultan). The story was originally... Read Sultana's Dream Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Romance, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Economics, Society: Politics & Government, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Psychology, Sociology, Finance / Money / Wealth


Publication year 1930

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Nostalgia, Identity: Gender, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship, Relationships: Siblings, Relationships: Teams, Society: Class, Society: Colonialism, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger