- Table View
- List View
The Last Panda
by George B. SchallerDependent on a shrinking supply of bamboo, hunted mercilessly for its pelt, and hostage to profiteering schemes once in captivity, the panda is on the brink of extinction. Here, acclaimed naturalist George Schaller uses his great evocative powers, and the insight gained by four and a half years in the forests of the Wolong and Tangjiahe panda reserves, to document the plight of these mysterious creatures and to awaken the human compassion urgently needed to save them. "No scientist is better at letting the rest of us in on just how the natural world works; no poet sees the world with greater clarity or writes about it with more grace. . . . Anyone who genuinely cares for wildlife cannot help being grateful to Schaller-both for his efforts to understand the panda and for the candor with which he reports what has gone so badly wrong in the struggle to save it from extinction. "-Geoffrey C. Ward, New York Times Book Review "Schaller's book is a unique mix of natural history and the politics of conservation, and it makes for compelling reading. . . . Having been in giant panda country myself, I found some of the descriptions of the animals and habitats breathtaking. Schaller describes the daily routines and personalities of the giant pandas he studied (as well as their fates thereafter) as though they were his blood relatives. . . . Schaller's brilliant presentation of the complexities of conservation makes his book a milestone for the conservation movement. "-Devra G. Kleiman, Washington Post Book World "George Schaller's most soulful work, written in journal style with many asides about a creature who evolved only two to three million years ago (about the same time as humans). . . . Here, conservation biology confronts an evil that grinds against hope and shatters the planet's diversity. Written with hope. "-Whole Earth Catalog "A nicely crafted blend of wildlife observation and political-cultural analysis. . . . The Last Panda is a sad chronicle of our failure, so far, to stem the decline of the animal that may be the most beloved on the planet. "-Donald Dale Jackson, Smithsonian
The Last Panther
by Todd MitchellFor animal lovers and fans of The One and Only Ivan and Hoot, this is the uplifting story of a girl who discovers a family of panthers that were thought to be extinct, and her journey to save the species. Eleven-year-old Kiri has a secret: wild things call to her. More than anyone else, she’s always had a special connection to animals. But when Kiri has an encounter with the last known Florida panther, her life is quickly turned on end. Caught between her conservationist father, who wants to send the panther to a zoo, and the village poachers, who want to sell it to feed their families, Kiri must embark on a journey that will take her deep into the wilderness. There has to be some way to save the panther, and for her dad and the villagers to understand each other. If Kiri can’t figure out what it is, she’ll lose far more than the panthers—she’ll lose the only home she’s ever known, and the only family she has left."A powerful tale of a future to be avoided." —Kirkus Reviews"An eerie cautionary tale about the dangers of not protecting the environment, tackles an important theme in a compelling way...a fantastical tale with roots in real-world issues." —Booklist"Earnest, heartfelt, and passionate, this book will likely inspire new environmentalists." —Bulletin"A boldly original, profoundly wise, deeply moving book. It’s a rare gift to any reader, as well as to our planet.” —T. A. Barron, best-selling author of the Merlin Saga
The Last Plastic Straw: A Plastic Problem and Finding Ways to Fix It (Books for a Better Earth)
by Dee RomitoLearn how and why a useful, 5000-year-old invention has become a threat to our planet—and what you can do about it—in this history of the simple straw. <P><P> From reeds used by ancient Sumerians to bendy straws in World War II hospitals, people have changed the straw to fit their needs for 5000 years. Today however, this useful tool is contributing to the plastic problem polluting our oceans. Once again, the simple straw needs a reinvention. <P><P> With bright illustrations and well-researched text, children can read about the inventors behind the straw’s technological advancements, including primary sources like patents, as well as how disposable plastic harms the environment. See the newest solutions, from plastic straw alternatives to activism by real kids like Milo Cress who started the Be Straw Free campaign when he was 11 years old. <P><P> Learn about what kids can do to reduce plastic waste. The backmatter includes more information on the movement to stop plastic waste, action items kids can do, a bibliography, and additional resources on plastic pollution. <P><P><i>Advisory: Bookshare has learned that this book offers only partial accessibility. We have kept it in the collection because it is useful for some of our members. Benetech is actively working on projects to improve accessibility issues such as these.</i>
The Last Polar Bear
by Jean Craighead GeorgeTigluk and his grandmother paddle out into the Arctic Ocean, where they find a young polar bear whose mother has died because of the changes brought about by the warming climate, and they bring the cub back to their town so they can teach it how to survive in a changing world.
The Last Resort: A Chronicle of Paradise, Profit, and Peril at the Beach
by Sarah StodolaA captivating exploration of beach resort culture—from its roots in fashionable society to its undervalued role in today’s world economy—as the travel industry approaches a climate reckoningWith its promise of escape from the strains of everyday life, the beach has a hold on the popular imagination as the ultimate paradise. In The Last Resort, Sarah Stodola dives into the psyche of the beachgoer and gets to the heart of what drives humans to seek out the sand. At the same time, she grapples with the darker realities of resort culture: strangleholds on local economies, reckless construction, erosion of beaches, weighty carbon footprints, and the inevitable overdevelopment and decline that comes with a soaring demand for popular shorelines.The Last Resort weaves Stodola’s firsthand travel notes with her exacting journalism in an enthralling report on the past, present, and future of coastal travel. She takes us from Monte Carlo, where the pursuit of pleasure first became part of the beach resort experience, to a village in Fiji that was changed irrevocably by the opening of a single resort; from the overdevelopment that stripped Acapulco of its reputation for exclusivity to Miami Beach, where extreme measures are underway to prevent the barrier island from vanishing into the ocean.In the twenty-first century, beach travel has become central to our globalized world—its culture, economy, and interconnectedness. But with sea levels likely to rise at least 1.5 to 3 feet by the end of this century, beaches will become increasingly difficult to preserve, and many will disappear altogether. What will our last resort be when water begins to fill the lobbies?
The Last Run: A True Story of Rescue and Redemption on the Alaska Seas
by Todd LewanIt was a desperate mission that made front-page headlines and captured the attention of millions of readers around the world. In January 1998, in the dead of an Alaskan winter, a cataclysmic Arctic storm with hurricane-force winds and towering seas forced five fishermen to abandon their vessel in the Gulf of Alaska and left them adrift in thirty-eight-degree water with no lifeboat. Their would-be rescuers were 150 miles away at the Coast Guard station, with the nearby airport shut down by an avalanche.The Last Run is the epic tale of the wreck of the oldest registered fishing schooner in Alaska, a hellish Arctic tempest, and the three teams of aviators in helicopters who withstood 140-mph gusts and hovered alongside waves that were ten stories high. But what makes this more than a true-life page-turner is its portrait of untamed Alaska and the unflappable spirit of people who forge a different kind of life on America's last frontier, the "end of the roaders" who are drawn to, or flee to, Alaska to seek a final destiny.
The Last Season
by Eric BlehmDestined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada--mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
The Last Season
by Eric BlehmDestined to become a classic of adventure literature, The Last Season examines the extraordinary life of legendary backcountry ranger Randy Morgenson and his mysterious disappearance in California's unforgiving Sierra Nevada--mountains as perilous as they are beautiful. Eric Blehm's masterful work is a gripping detective story interwoven with the riveting biography of a complicated, original, and wholly fascinating man.
The Last Song of the World
by Joseph FasanoJoseph Fasano’s The Last Song of the World delves into the chaos of the modern world, and searches for resilience in the face of environmental and societal devastation. Dripping with images of ancient ruins and mythological figures, these poems serve as vignettes of fatherhood, love, and desire against the backdrop of apocalyptic events.Through the documentation of ongoing violence and natural phenomena, Fasano depicts the ever-present anxieties of parenting with concision and compassion. The Last Song of the World is a love letter to the world that could be, a world as tender as it is bold, as loving as it is brutal, as beautiful as it is horrendous.
The Last Stand of the Pack: Critical Edition (Timberline Books)
by Arthur CarhartThis critical edition explores the past and future of wolves in Colorado. Originally published in 1929, The Last Stand of the Pack is a historical account of the extermination of what were then believed to be the last wolves in Colorado. Arthur H. Carhart and Stanley P. Young describe the wolves’ extermination and extoll the bravery of the federal trappers hunting them down while simultaneously characterizing the wolves as cunning individuals and noble adversaries to the growth of the livestock industry and the settlement of the West. This is nature writing at its best, even if the worldview expressed is at times jarring to the twenty-first-century reader. Now, almost 100 years later, much has been learned about ecology and the role of top-tier predators within ecosystems. In this new edition, Carhart and Young’s original text is accompanied by an extensive introduction with biographical details on Arthur Carhart and an overview of the history of wolf eradication in the west; chapters by prominent wildlife biologists, environmentalists, wolf reintroduction activists, and ranchers Tom Compton, Bonnie Brown, Mike Phillips, Norman A. Bishop, and Cheney Gardner; and an epilogue considering current issues surrounding the reintroduction of wolves in Colorado. Presenting a balanced perspective, these additional chapters address views both in support of and opposed to wolf reintroduction. Coloradans are deeply interested in wilderness and the debate surrounding wolf reintroduction, but for wolves to have a future in Colorado we must first understand the past. The Last Stand of the Pack: Critical Edition presents both important historical scholarship and contemporary ecological ideas, offering a complete picture of the impact of wolves in Colorado.
The Last Stand: A Journey Through the Ancient Cliff-Face Forest of the Niagara Escarpment
by Doug Larson Peter E. Kelly Sarah HarmerThe most ancient and least disturbed forest ecosystem in eastern North America clings to the vertical cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment. Prior to 1988 it had escaped detection even though the entire forest was in plain view and was being visited by thousands upon thousands of people every year. The reason no one had discovered the forest was that the trees were relatively small and lived on the vertical cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment. The Last Stand reveals the complete account of the discovery of this ancient forest, of the miraculous properties of the trees forming this forest (eastern white cedar), and of what is was like for researchers to live, work and study within this forest. The unique story is told with text, with stunning colour photographs and through vivid first-hand accounts. This book will stand the test of time as a testament to science, imagination and discovery.
The Last Straw
by Zoe MatthiessenMeet Sippy, the world's last plastic strawSippy, a plastic straw who was used once and then discarded, worries what will happen to him when he realizes he can't be recycled. As he flies, floats, and flutters around the planet, he meets animals who are struggling with the plastic problem. He chats with a raccoon with a six-pack ring around his neck, a cardinal whose nest is made entirely of junk, turtles who confuse grocery bags with food, a hermit crab forced to live in a plastic cap, and a startled duck who runs around with a chip bag on her head. Finally, Sippy is swallowed by a hungry whale who is dining on ocean trash! Just when all hope seems lost, he skyrockets to freedom and calls out "Together we can fix this! Let's clean our world--let's try!"Parents and teachers of children 7 to 10 years old can use Sippy's colorful adventure--based on real examples of animals in our environment--to raise awareness about the impacts of plastics on nature and to teach children about alternatives to single-use plastics.
The Last Traverse: Tragedy And Resilience In The Winter Whites
by Ty GagneOn a mountain somewhere above treeline, in some of the coldest and worst winter conditions imaginable, two men lie unconscious in the snow as explosive winds batter the nearby summits. In The Last Traverse; Tragedy and Resilience in the Winter Whites, Ty Gagne masterfully lays out the events that led up to an epic and legendary rescue attempt in severe and dangerous winter conditions in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. More than a cautionary tale, it is a tribute to all the volunteers and professionals who willingly put themselves in harm's way to save lives. This is a must read for anyone who hikes the Whites. "In his first book, Where You'll Find Me: Risk, Decisions, and the last Climb of Kate Matrosova, Ty Gagne established his credentials as a writer of well-researched and objective analysis of mountain accidents. Moreover, Where You'll Find Me reads like a novel, a book I couldn't put down. In his latest book, The Last Traverse, Gagne takes the combination of analysis and storytelling to a new level in a tale of survival and tragedy in the White Mountains." -Mark Synnott, author of The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan, and the Climbing Life and The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest
The Last Treasure
by Erika MarksFrom the author of It Comes in Waves and The Guest House comes a novel of three lives entangled in the secrets of the sea and the enduring bonds of love.As students with a shared passion for shipwrecks, Liv, Sam, and Whit formed a close bond searching for the mysterious Patriot, a schooner that disappeared off the Carolina Coast in 1812 with Aaron Burr's daughter Theodosia aboard. But as the elusive ship drew them together, love would bring them even closer--and ultimately tear them apart.It's been nine years since Liv left Sam to be with Whit, and the once close-knit triowent their separate ways. Liv has given up her obsession with Theodosia Burr to focus on her career as a salvage diver and her passionate but troubled marriage to the reckless and hedonistic Whit. But when a diary of Theodosia's is discovered in a collector's estate, she is pulled back to the world of the Patriot, this time with startling new clues to what might have really happened. Diving back into the lost history of the Patriot could be just what Liv needs to find closure to a mystery that still haunts her. But when she and Whit reunite with Sam for one last salvage in North Carolina's Outer Banks, buried romantic tensions begin to resurface, and once again Liv must choose between two men with very different hearts.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Last Tree: A Seed of Hope
by Luke Adam HawkerFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of Together. Imagine a world without trees. A world that is in many ways like our world, but where magnificent canopies, tree climbing and leaves rustling in the breeze are now only distant memories.Until a young girl comes along, a girl who is brave and spirited and willing to follow where her imagination takes her. Through Olive's adventures in the world of trees we are reminded of nature's extraordinary power and beauty, and her actions ultimately sow the seeds of new life in her own world.From the mind and pen of bestselling author Luke Adam Hawker, The Last Tree is a powerful evocation of the fragility of our natural world and a magnificent celebration of its beauty.Praise for Together:"An accurate and thoughtful account of one of the most challenging years in modern history." -The Guardian"Hawker's images always seem to have just the right mixture of gravitas and sly, understated humour." -The Scotsman
The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth's Rarest Creatures
by William DebuysAn award-winning author's stirring quest to find and understand an elusive and exceptionally rare species in the heart of Southeast Asia's jungles.In 1992, in a remote mountain range, a team of scientists discovered the remains of an unusual animal with beautiful long horns. It turned out to be a living species new to western science -- a saola, the first large land mammal discovered in 50 years.Rare then and rarer now, no westerner had glimpsed a live saola in the wild before Pulitzer Prize finalist and nature writer William deBuys and conservation biologist William Robichaud set off to search for it in the wilds of central Laos. The team endured a punishing trek, up and down whitewater rivers and through mountainous terrain ribboned with the snare lines of armed poachers.In the tradition of Bruce Chatwin, Colin Thubron, and Peter Matthiessen, THE LAST UNICORN is deBuys's look deep into one of the world's most remote places. As in the pursuit of the unicorn, the journey ultimately becomes a quest for the essence of wildness in nature, and an encounter with beauty.
The Last Whale
by Chris PashAt the end of the 1970s, one young reporter bears witness to the final days of Australia’s whaling industry. Thirty years after the last whale was captured and slaughtered in Australia, this incisive account tells the very human story of the characters and events that brought whaling to an end. This fair and balanced account portrays the raw adventure of going to sea, the perils of being a whaler, and the commitment that leads activists to throw themselves into the path of an explosive harpoon. Accompanied by a wonderful photographic record of the time, this is the action-packed history of a town reliant on whaling dollars pitted against a determined band of protesters.
The Last Whalers: The Life of an Endangered Tribe in a Land Left Behind
by Doug Bock Clark'Remarkable... a rich, novelistic account based on diligent reporting ... An empathetic, even intimate account, but not a dewy-eyed one ... Wonderful' Daily Telegraph'I absolutely loved this magnificent book' Sebastian Junger'A monumental achievement' Mitchell Zuckoff'[An] immersive, densely reported and altogether remarkable first book ... The Last Whalers has the texture and colouring of a first-rate novel' New York TimesAt a time when global change has eradicated thousands of unique cultures, The Last Whalers tells the stunning inside story of the Lamalerans, an ancient tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who live on a volcanic island so remote it is known by other Indonesians as "The Land Left Behind." They have survived for centuries by taking whales with bamboo harpoons, but now are being pushed toward collapse by the encroachment of the modern world.Award-winning journalist Doug Bock Clark, who lived with the Lamalerans across three years, weaves together their stories with novelistic flair to usher us inside this hidden drama. Jon, an orphaned apprentice whaler, strives to earn his harpoon and feed his ailing grandparents. Ika, Jon's indomitable younger sister, struggles to forge a modern life in a tradition-bound culture and realize a star-crossed love. Ignatius, a legendary harpooner entering retirement, labors to hand down the Ways of the Ancestors to his son, Ben, who would rather become a DJ in the distant tourist mecca of Bali.With brilliant, breathtaking prose and empathetic, fast-paced storytelling, Clark details how the fragile dreams of one of the world's dwindling indigenous peoples are colliding with the irresistible upheavals of our rapidly transforming world, and delivers to us a group of families we will never forget.
The Last Whalers: The Life of an Endangered Tribe in a Land Left Behind
by Doug Bock Clark'Remarkable... a rich, novelistic account based on diligent reporting ... An empathetic, even intimate account, but not a dewy-eyed one ... Wonderful' Daily Telegraph'I absolutely loved this magnificent book' Sebastian Junger'A monumental achievement' Mitchell ZuckoffThe epic story of the world's last subsistence whalers.At a time when global change has eradicated thousands of unique cultures, The Last Whalers tells the stunning inside story of the Lamalerans, an ancient tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who live on a volcanic island so remote it is known by other Indonesians as "The Land Left Behind." They have survived for centuries by taking whales with bamboo harpoons, but now are being pushed toward collapse by the encroachment of the modern world.Award-winning journalist Doug Bock Clark, who lived with the Lamalerans across three years, weaves together their stories with novelistic flair to usher us inside this hidden drama. Jon, an orphaned apprentice whaler, strives to earn his harpoon and feed his ailing grandparents. Ika, Jon's indomitable younger sister, struggles to forge a modern life in a tradition-bound culture and realize a star-crossed love. Ignatius, a legendary harpooner entering retirement, labors to hand down the Ways of the Ancestors to his son, Ben, who would rather become a DJ in the distant tourist mecca of Bali.With brilliant, breathtaking prose and empathetic, fast-paced storytelling, Clark details how the fragile dreams of one of the world's dwindling indigenous peoples are colliding with the irresistible upheavals of our rapidly transforming world, and delivers to us a group of families we will never forget.(P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life
by Doug Bock Clark<P><P>On a volcanic island in the Savu Sea so remote that other Indonesians call it "The Land Left Behind" live the Lamalerans: a tribe of 1,500 hunter-gatherers who are the world's last subsistence whalers. They have survived for half a millennium by hunting whales with bamboo harpoons and handmade wooden boats powered by sails of woven palm fronds. <P><P>But now, under assault from the rapacious fores of the modern era and a global economy, their way of life teeters on the brink of collapse. <P><P>Award-winning journalist Doug Bock Clark, one of a handful of Westerners who speak the Lamaleran language, lived with the tribe across three years, and he brings their world and their people to vivid life in this gripping story of a vanishing culture. Jon, an orphaned apprentice whaler, toils to earn his harpoon and provide for his ailing grandparents, while Ika, his indomitable younger sister, is eager to forge a life unconstrained by tradition, and to realize a star-crossed love. Frans, an aging shaman, tries to unite the tribe in order to undo a deadly curse. And Ignatius, a legendary harpooner entering retirement, labors to hand down the Ways of the Ancestors to his son, Ben, who would secretly rather become a DJ in the distant tourist mecca of Bali. <P><P>Deeply empathetic and richly reported, The Last Whalers is a riveting, powerful chronicle of the collision between one of the planet's dwindling indigenous peoples and the irresistible enticements and upheavals of a rapidly transforming world.
The Last Wild Place
by Rosa Jordan<P>Chip Martin's life is going well-his biggest problem so far this year has been deciding whether he'll try out for soccer or baseball in seventh grade. But now everything is beginning to fragment, and he's not sure how the pieces will fit back together. <P>His brother Justin's away at college and his sister Kate is busy with her high school activities. His single mom's lifelong friendship with Booker Wilson has suddenly taken a romantic turn, and now his best friend Luther, who may have to move away, won't speak to him. <P>Even worse, Chip has to face the possibility of being uprooted himself. Chip's feelings of dislocation are compounded by the problems of the kids he meets at the community center, refugees left homeless in the aftermath of a recent hurricane along the Florida Panhandle. <P>Feeling friendless and alone, Chip explores the marshy woods behind an abandoned farm, where he discovers something unbelievable-a family of Florida panthers that has been driven out of their home in the Everglades and is now dangerously close to human settlement. <P>Chip is alarmed when he hears that the last few acres of the woods are to be cleared to make way for a meat-packing plant. When he tries to protect the panthers, he learns that he has more friends than he thought, and they all want the same thing-to find a safe home for the wild animals. And if they're lucky, a safe place for themselves, too.
The Last Wild Place
by Rosa JordanA complex story about small town life and displacement—both of humans and of wildlife.Chip Martin's life is going well, but now everything is beginning to fragment. His brother Justin's away at college and his sister Kate is busy with her high school activities. His single mom's lifelong friendship with Booker Wilson has suddenly taken a romantic turn, and now his best friend Luther won't speak to him. Even worse, Chip has to face the possibility of being uprooted. Chip's feelings of dislocation are compounded when he meets kids at his community center who are refugees, left homeless in the aftermath of a recent hurricane along the Florida Panhandle. But then Chip discovers something unbelievable—a family of Florida panthers that have been driven out of their home in the Everglades. Chip is alarmed when he hears that the last few acres of the woods are to be cleared to make way for a meat-packing plant. When he tries to protect the panthers, he learns that he has more friends than he thought.Author Rosa Jordan's memorable, well-drawn characters are woven together into a web of complex relationships marked by the challenges of displacement.
The Last Wild: Book 1 (The Last Wild Trilogy #1)
by Piers TordayFrom the winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction PrizeThis is a story about a boy named Kester. He is extraordinary, but he doesn't know that yet. All he knows, at this very moment, is this: 1. There is a flock of excited pigeons in his bedroom. 2. They are talking to him. 3. His life will never be quite the same again... Kester lives in a land in quarantine. A deadly virus has killed all the animals except pests and it's expected to be equally dangerous to humans. But when Kester realises he can talk to the pests, he finds they have great hope invested in him.A captivating animal adventure destined to be loved by readers of all ages.
The Last Wild: Book 1 (The Last Wild Trilogy #1)
by Piers TordayThis is a story about a boy named Kester. He is extraordinary, but he doesn't know that yet. All he knows, at this very moment, is this: 1. There is a flock of excited pigeons in his bedroom. 2. They are talking to him. 3. His life will never be quite the same again...(P)2013 WF Howes Ltd
The Last Wilderness: A Journey into Silence
by Neil AnsellNeil Ansell's THE LAST WILDERNESS is a mesmerising book on nature and solitude by a writer who has spent his lifetime taking solitary ventures into the wild. For any readers of the author's previous book, DEEP COUNTRY, Robert Macfarlane's THE OLD WAYS or William Atkins THE MOOR.Shortlisted for the 2018 Wainwright Golden Beer Book PrizeShortlisted for the 2018 Highland Book Prize 'Ansell has the rare skill of combining vividly the intimacy of detail and the astonishing grandeur of this North West coastline of Scotland. Through his keen eyes we look again at the familiar with a sense of wondrous revelation' Madeleine Bunting 'Beautiful...a testimony to reticent courage' Daily MailThe experience of being in nature alone is here set within the context of a series of walks that Neil Ansell takes into the most remote parts of Britain, the rough bounds in the Scottish Highlands. He illustrates the impact of being alone as part of nature, rather than outside it.As a counterpoint, Neil Ansell also writes of the changes in the landscape, and how his hearing loss affects his relationship with nature as the calls of the birds he knows so well become silent to him.