It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within twenty years, humans will live on Mars. We'll need to. In this book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in detail just how it will happen. The race is on. Private companies, driven by entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Paul Allen, and Sir Richard...

"From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of perhaps the most bestselling and beloved literary fiction of our time comes a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring novel about children on the cusp of adulthood in a broken world, who find resilience, hope, and story. The heroes of Cloud Cuckoo Land are children trying to figure out the world around them, and to survive. In the besieged city of Constantinople in 1453, in a public library in Lakeport,...

"Book Three in the View from the Imperium series from humorous SF master Jody Lynn Nye. Lieutenant Lord Thomas Kinago and his trusty constant companion, the unflappable Parsons, are back. And this time they've got a planet to save. The Zang, an elder race of the galaxy, may be a shrinking population, but they're also intelligent, curious, and powerful. What's more, they practice a most unusual art form: they bonsai star systems. Eager to witness this...

"Ten years have passed on Tines World, where Ravna Bergnsdot and a number of human children ended up after a disaster that nearly obliterated humankind throughout the galaxy. Ravna and the pack animals for which the planet is named have survived a war, and Ravna has saved more than one hundred children who were in cold-sleep aboard the vessel that brought them. While there is peace among the Tines, there are those among them--and among the humans--who...

When the Wind disappears, young windling Aria and her gryphling friend Gwyn embark on a quest to bring them back, but when all the natural elements begin to vanish one by one, Aria realizes that there is a darker mischief at play.

"Our world is getting hotter, and it's our fault. Our addiction to fossil fuels is destroying not only our ancient planet, but our modern civilization. How can we protect our fragile ecosystems while preserving our way of life? How can we respond to climate change deniers who mock the fact that environmental activists use fossil fuels? In short, how can your average concerned citizen live a normal life in a carbon-based economy without being justifiably...

The Anthropocene -- the Human Age -- provides Diane Ackerman with the subject for her 24th and most ambitious book. Ackerman has established herself over the past quarter of a century as one of our most adventurous, charismatic and engrossing public science writers. Since her 1990 breakout title, "A Natural History of the Senses,"she has demonstrated a rare versatility, a contagious curiosity and a gift for painting quick, memorable tableaus drawn...

"Planning is Zoe Rosenthal's superpower. She has faith in a properly organized to-do list and avoids unnecessary risks. Her mental checklist goes something like this: 1) Meet soulmate: DONE! 2) Make commitment: DONE! 3) Marriage: TO COME! (after college). She isn't sure which college yet, but it will have a strong political science department, since her perfect boyfriend, Simon, plans to "save the country," as his sister puts it, "and the planet and...

In Healing Grounds, Liz Carlisle tells the stories of Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and Asian American farmers who are reviving their ancestors' methods of growing food--techniques long suppressed by the industrial food system. These farmers are restoring native prairies, nurturing beneficial fungi, and enriching soil health. While feeding their communities and revitalizing cultural ties to land, they are steadily stitching ecosystems back together and...

Once again, Earth is under attack. An alien species is poised for a final assault. The survival of humanity depends on a military genius who can defeat the aliens. But who? Ender Wiggin. Brilliant. Ruthless. Cunning. A tactical and strategic master. And a child. Recruited for military training by the world government, Ender's childhood ends the moment he enters his new home: Battle School. Among the elite recruits Ender proves himself to be a genius...