A World Without Summer
A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
The true story of how a massive catastrophic eruption plunged the world into darkness, altering the global climate and inspiring the likes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein—from the award-winning author of The Mona Lisa Vanishes and featuring black-and-white illustrations throughout.
A YALSA EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Horn Book
“A tour-de-force for our times . . . At once a heart-stopping tale of climate change and a profoundly hopeful call to action.”—Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal winner for The One and Only Ivan
The world was upside-down. The wind was fire. The sky was ash. The rain was rock.
A couple of hundred years ago, on a quiet Indonesian island, a volcano called Tambora erupted with a force and violence that changed history.
It tore apart the island, and in the months and years that followed, its fallout tore apart the world. The sun refused to shine; the rain refused to stop. Everything that everyone assumed would always be there—a world that made sense, a climate that made sense—was suddenly gone.
From this riot of thunder and lightning, a young woman named Mary Shelley conceived of a scientist and his cursed creature. From the nightmare of Tambora, she wrote a nightmare of a book: Frankenstein—a terrifying reminder of how much damage we humans might do, without even realizing it.
This is the story of a volcano that changed the world and a creature that changed us.
Once upon a time, everything was different. And no one knew if it would ever be the same.
In this masterful work, Nicholas Day, author of the Sibert Award–winning The Mona Lisa Vanishes, brings us a story taken from the archives but seemingly scripted for us today: a tale of climate change and human folly and hope—and what happens when the world suddenly goes wrong.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Day (The Mona Lisa Vanishes) and Imamura (Love in the Library) chronicle the story of Mount Tambora's 1815 volcanic eruption in this intense accounting. Across four parts, engaging, sardonic-feeling text ("The world has been scheduled to end many times, yet it somehow never does") traces the disaster's initial shockwave through the Indonesian islands and the global consequences of the eruption, which caused weather anomalies that contributed to disease, drought, famine, and civil unrest. Day additionally describes how various groups, such as English farmers and Napoleonic War soldiers, were impacted by the blast and how societal differences like religion factored into peoples' understanding of its effects. References to cultural historical markers—such as the 1818 publication of Frankenstein—demonstrate major scientific and political by-products of the traumatic events. Government document scans, newspaper excerpts, and more culminate in a multifaceted narrative that illustrates how natural disasters affect climate change, and challenges readers to consider, "How do you tell a story when the people in the story don't know what's happening?" Graceful b&w drawings add personality to at-times graphic depictions of catastrophe. Sources conclude. Ages 10–14. Author's agent: Brenda Bowen, Book Group. Illustrator's agent: Susan Penny, Bright Agency.
