One Book Philadelphia: There There

Tommy Orange’s There There is the 2020 One Book One Philadelphia selection, with a wide selection of events at branches of the Free Library. Tommy Orange will visit the Parkway Central Library January 22, to kick off eight weeks of One Book  programming! Between this kickoff event and the finale on March 18, more than 100 events including book discussions, mixed-media art and music workshops, film screenings, poetry readings, community panels, and creative writing workshops all based on the themes of There There.

Youth companion books are the YA book If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth and the children’s book When We Were Alone by David Robertson and illustrated by Julie Flett.

The Kingsessing Branch library will host a discussion Jan. 25 at 2 pm; a limited number of free copies of There There are available to participants.

Holiday Hours

We will be open the following hours for the holiday season:

Saturday, Dec. 28: Noon – 7 pm

Sunday, Dec. 29: Noon – 5 pm

Closed Dec. 30 – Jan. 1

Thursday, Jan. 2: Noon – 4 pm

Saturday, Jan. 4: Noon – 7 pm

Sunday, Jan. 5: Noon – 5 pm

 

Books on the Climate Crisis

Edward Barbier, A Global Green New Deal. An economist argues that we can reduce carbon dependency and protect ecosystems while creating a sustainable economy.

Mike Berners-Lee, There Is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years. A sweeping overview, set up in a Question & Answer format.

Jeremy Brecher, Against Doom: A Climate Insurgency Manual. A short guide to building a movement.

Jeff Goodell, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World. Argues it is too late to avert rising oceans, but that we may be able to mitigate the consequences.

Naomi Klein, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal. Essays examine the scope of the crisis, critique schemes to geoengineer our way out of the crisis, and calls for organization and determined political action to build a greener world.

Elizabeth Rush, Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.  Reportage from the front lines of rising sea levels across America, presenting the voices of those facing displacement.

David Wallace-Wells, The Uninhabitable Earth. A sweeping overview of the catastrophic future that awaits if we do not act.

Fiction

Paolo Bacigalupi’s young adult trilogy – Ship Breaker, The Drowned Cities and Tool of War – is set in a future ravaged by climate change. Much of the Gulf Coast is submerged, millions eke out meager livings fighting over and scavenging the remains.

Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 is set in a submerged New York City that is still alive, and fighting the greed that brought on the catastrophe and to carve out a new future.