Force of Nature

"In school we learned the earth 

was once covered in water. 

Imagine!

Ocean water covering 

everything--

our field, our woods, 

our orchard!

Someday, I want to visit 

the ocean and meet all

the wonderful creatures 

who live there!"

     Even in today's world there are kids who can peel their eyes from the ubiquitous devices to marvel at an eagle in flight, a shy yearling deer nibbling foliage, or a butterfly 🦋 emerging from its cocoon; who are more likely to Google reptile life cycles than trending fashions; who are saddened and angered by humankind's destruction of the natural world 🌎. Ann E. Berg's Force of Nature is a perfect read for them. 

    The book, narrated in free verse, vividly and eloquently celebrates Rachel Carson. Younger readers meet the child who early on was captivated by nature's wonders, who roamed the woods after school with her dog, who worried about pollution:

"The pungent smell

of smoke 

and rotten eggs 

mixes with the musky scent

of late summer 

and I worry about 

my feathered friends

and favorite creatures 

breathing this foul odor. 

Why must the progress of man 

interfere with the beauty of nature?"

Who grew into the college student who changed her major to biology in a time when there were few jobs for women in what was considered men's work and the woman who spoke out against powerful industries about the harm they were doing to nature. 

     Perhaps the best part of the book is Sophie Blackwell's simple but elegant drawings of the plants and animals that Carson studied scattered throughout the book. My favorites are the butterflies 🦋 and birds. 

     I am delighted by the rising number of younger naturalists who are rising up to fight powerful people and industries for the future of our beautiful planet and its non human denizens and, in doing so, carrying on Carson's mission. 

On a purrrsonal note, on the autumnal equinox we 🥳 🎉 🎊 🍾 my 73rd birthday 🎂. The UMaine International Student Association and my family threw me parties and my friend, Mazie, treated me to Sweet Frog 🐸 froyo 🍨. We were celebrating that the stroke didn't kill me or my ability to follow my dreams. And I've come so far!!!

Jules Hathaway 

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