GLOBAL: ONE FRAGILE WORLD. AN EPIC FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL. by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin, Giovanni Rigano, Sourcebooks Young Readers, April 11, 2023, Paperback, $14.99 (ages 10-14)
“All I know is that even though the world is big, our world is growing smaller every day.”
Two kids on opposite ends of the world face the effects of climate change in Global: One Fragile World. An Epic Fight for Survival, by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin and illustrated by Giovanni Rigano.
Time is running out for Sami and Yuki.
Sami and his grandfather live in a village along the Indian Ocean. They earn their living by fishing. But the ocean is rising and each day they bring back fewer and fewer fish.
Yuki lives in the far north of Canada where warming temperature are melting the ice. Polar bears have less food to hunt and are wandering into town looking for something to eat. Yuki is determined to do something to help the bears. —Synopsis provided by Sourcebooks Young Readers
Global is a timely, breathtaking look at climate change. In many ways it calls to mind Alan Gatz’s Two Degrees, which also tackles climate change from multiple kids’ perspectives. In fact, the two books would be great read together.
Authors Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin have expertly crafted text that not only provides first-person narration, but dialogue, too. The well-thought-out text may be sparse, but readers immediately get a sense of who both Sam and Yuki are. They are complex and wonderfully crafted.
Colfer and Donkin’s text is perfectly paired with Giovanni Rigano’s stunning illustrations. Each panel is full of detail, emotion and color. His bold work truly brings this graphic novel to life.
Though the suggested age for Global is 10 and up, I did not hesitate to hand it to my 9-year-old, and she has read it multiple times since. This is what she had to say:
“There’s this really cool book called Global — it tells what we need to save about the Earth. It’s Amazing! At first, I wondered what this book would be like, and now I’m like ‘Wow! This is one fragile world.’ I like Yuki’s dog. It is a very funny husky and is willing to save Yuki. I learned that one thing can go a long way.”
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