On Fire by Naomi Klein

ON FIRE by Naomi Klein is subtitled “The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal.” Klein is a best-selling author who also holds an endowed chair at Rutgers University and has co-founded the climate justice organization The Leap. Her recent book is basically a collection of essays, some new and some written in the last decade, regarding climate change and its increasing urgency. I agree with other reviewers who have pointed to the necessity of becoming better informed on this topic – whether or not you ultimately agree with Klein. In her latest book, she takes a social justice perspective and argues that we can solve multiple crises at once:

The introduction to ON FIRE is lengthy, but accessible and inspirational, especially for teen readers. For example, she writes about numerous impacts around the world like one million dead fish in Australia’s Darling River, water shortages in Cape Town, South Africa, and wildfires in America’s Pacific Northwest. Klein points out that “wherever in the world they live, this generation has something in common: they are the first for whom climate disruption on a planetary scale is not a future threat, but a lived reality.” She continues to explain the genesis of the recent movement, including providing background on Greta Thunberg and her Friday protests which in turn prompted today's events. Klein asks “what is interfering with humanity’s basic survival instinct – why so many of us aren’t acting like our house is on fire when it so clearly is” and notes that “there are many powerful interests that like things as they are.” Some of Klein’s other sections are titled “Capitalism vs. the Climate,” “Stop Trying to Save the World All by Yourself,” and an epilogue on “The Capsule Case for a Green New Deal.” Klein’s ON FIRE received a starred review from Library Journal.

A Door in the Earth by Amy Waldman

A DOOR IN THE EARTH by Amy Waldman (The Submission) is a complex text. In this novel, a recent Berkeley college grad and Afghan-American named Parveen is inspired by the earlier efforts of Dr. Gideon Crane to bring medical care to women in Afghanistan.  She decides to take a risk and retrace his steps, to live in a remote village for a few months in order to better document changes in attitudes and experiences for these women. Of course, the changes and observations which Parveen makes about the contrasts between her earlier life and current circumstances are fascinating, too, such as when she reflects on the items in her suitcase or on returning to a pre-digital life. Thinking about the absence of the written word, Parveen muses, “reading was perhaps the only learned behavior that became as involuntary as breathing. It couldn’t be unlearned, couldn’t be switched off, … Only now did she feel … how much work, how much filtering, her brain had been doing to withstand it.” And flashbacks allow for incorporating provocative comments by her professor: “Might opens the door for mission, which in turn justifies might.  Controlling land and bodies paves the way for saving souls, and saving souls solidifies control over land.” 

If there is any criticism of this novel it is that Parveen seems unwilling or unable to trust the evidence of her own eyes and, as a result, parts of the novel move slowly. However, Waldman is masterful at helping readers to appreciate the Afghan culture, particularly the role of women. While reading, many will recall the popularity and subsequent controversy associated with Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea – I was surprised to learn that Jon Krakauer had written Three Cups of Deceit, one of the many texts that Waldman consulted when writing this. Her references to media portrayal by “usual prominent white men (Charlie Rose, Tom Friedman, Tom Brokaw, David Brooks)”, the military, and America’s use of “kind power” are certainly thought-provoking and Waldman’s latest novel is a title worth considering as an addition to our Global Voices class’ syllabus.  A DOOR IN THE EARTH received starred reviews from both Booklist and Kirkus.

Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Serpa

CALL YOUR DAUGHTER HOME by Deb Serpa is a work of historical fiction set amidst the rural poverty and segregated society of 1924 South Carolina. Three women share the storytelling: Gertrude Pardee, Oretta Bootles, and Annie Coles. Gertrude, forced to marry as a teen, has four young daughters and an often drunk and abusive husband.  She can barely afford to feed the family until she is offered a job at the Sewing Circle.  That business is owned by Annie through her own family legacy, although her husband Edwin is an influential plantation owner dealing with the cotton crop’s destruction by the boll weevil and trying to make money by converting to tobacco. Retta lives in Shake Rag, with her ailing husband and other former slaves or their descendants. She has long worked as housekeeper for Miss Annie’s family and is a kind soul who often helps others, including Gertrude and her girls. CALL YOUR DAUGHTER HOME is filled with conflict between family members, especially mothers and daughters. There are questions of morality, faith, guilt, and retribution which are adeptly handled and woven throughout the story. At one point, Preacher quotes Ephesians 6:11, “put on the whole armor of God” in order to stand “against spiritual wickedness in high places.” In addition, these women, two of whom have lost children, have to rely on their own mothers’ words (“Mama used to say if you don’t ask for help, nobody will know how to give it”) and the concern they develop for each other. Each experiences both physical and emotional pain and questions her own abilities, as expressed in reflections like: “I wasn’t a good mother, that much is fact, but I was the only kind I knew how to be” or “I can’t see what is to come. … I fear I will stumble over the edge without knowing, and tumble to the sharp rocks below, too late to save my own soul.” In a note on “A Bit of Background,” Serpa explains how her own grandmother and great-grandmother influenced this book, including details like the peach cobbler recipe. She says that she was “humbled and inspired by the ferocity of their motherhood.” Book group members, especially readers of titles like Delia Owens' Where the Crawdads Sing or Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, will certainly empathize with the characters in Serpa’s debut novel which was a LibraryReads selection in June. This title might work for Junior Theme; Booklist recommended CALL YOUR DAUGHTER HOME for teens, too, due to the “complicated mother-daughter relationships.”