Yuki lives in Northern Canada, inside the Arctic Circle. She’s unhappy that so many are moving away from their small town, seeking better living opportunities elsewhere. Other changes are obvious too. Animals are wandering into town and are being shot for human safety.

Yuki knows it’s not the animals fault. Polar bears need ice to hunt and their ice is melting more and more every day. Brown bears are now able to hunt closer to territory once ruled by the polar bear, and together they are producing another type of inbred bear – the grolar. The grolar however has no particular skills in forest or on the ice and seek food in towns where it is dangerous for humans and unsafe for them.

Wanting to save the bears, Yuki and her dog Lockjaw set off into the snow and ice that surrounds the town, with her camera. But the terrain is even more unsafe than usual. With melting ice everywhere, the ground is treacherous. Girl and dog are soon far from home, ice is melting beneath them, bears are hungry and night is falling. In trying to save the bears, has Yuki doomed herself?

Sami lives in a tiny seaside village in the Bay of Bengal in India. Along with his grandfather, he lives hand to mouth every day, relying on their tiny boat and their fishing nets to provide.

Since losing his parents in a storm, they have struggled with the rising tides, dropping fish numbers and an influx of people from far and wide escaping conflict and civil wars.

When yet another storm hits the village, land slides gobble up anything they have left. But maybe working with the newcomers looking for a new home, they can salvage some of their life back from the mud?

From the author / illustrator team of the powerful graphic novel ILLEGAL, this hardback full colour story also packs a punch.

Telling two stories from different hemispheres concurrently, we see how not only individuals, but entire communities are ravaged by the effects of climate change. It is a daily struggle trying to adapt to their changing landscapes and lives.

Sami and Yuki may live in opposite ends of the Earth but both are brave, trying to make the best of things as all that they have known erodes before their eyes.

The illustrations are lush and detailed, sharing the frustration, pain, worry and triumph of survival in these harsh environments. 

In the rear of the book is a non-fiction section of graphic novel explaining clearly to the reader the challenges the world is facing right now.

Sobering. Compelling. Stunning.

Author – Eoin Colfer

Illustrator – Andrew Donkin

Graphic Novel

Age – 8+

Read a review of another graphic novel by Eoin Colfer (Click on the Cover)

(2023, Hachette, Hodder, Ice, Snow, Melting, Polar Bears, Grolar Bears, Danger, Action, Courage, Storms, Land slides, Deforestation, Climate Change, Global warming, Adaptation, Hunger, Starvation, Rising tides, Storms, Right now, Environment, Family, Grief, Love, Graphic Novel)