The Sixth Extinction (young readers adaptation): An Unnatural History

by Elizabeth Kolbert

Overview

In this young readers adaptation of the New York Times-bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before.

Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. Adapting from her New York Times-bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning adult nonfiction, Elizabeth Kolbert explores how humans are altering life on Earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250793430
Publisher:	Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication date:	02/06/2024
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	919,825
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of The Sixth Extinction and Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.
Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change and Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Editorial Reviews

"[Kolbert] says people think that to prevent the sixth extinction they need to care more and make sacrifices, but 'It doesn’t much matter if people care or don’t care. What matters is that people change the world.' After reading her lively, entertaining, and very accessible book, young readers will be inspired to try." — Booklist (starred review)


"Highly expressive and vividly detailed writing conveys the tragedy that humanity is bringing on itself. . . Essential for science discussions on mass extinctions to challenge advanced middle grade readers."—School Library Journal (starred review)

"The narrative of this abridged version contains each of the original book’s 13 chapters and is written with specificity and wit. . . In addition to clearly synthesizing a large amount of research, this book’s virtue lies in the emotional gut punch it delivers. . .A wide-ranging, urgent, and emotionally effective call to action. "—Kirkus

From the Publisher

★ 01/01/2024

Gr 3–7—"We are living through a revolution on every face of the Earth, which we created," states Pulitzer Prize winner Kolbert. This book discusses a final mass extinction that will trail five previous massive extinctions in the earth's history, the last being the dinosaurs. Humans are the only creatures to have altered the physical planet and continue to contribute to its species' downfall. People can view firsthand the effects of ocean acidification, invasive species, loss of species, higher levels of carbon dioxide, rising temperatures, and compromised accessible fresh water, signaling our end unless we take action. Highly expressive and vividly detailed writing conveys the tragedy that humanity is bringing on itself. Kolbert divides the work into the same 13 chapters as the adult version with little condensing; the text resonates with readers by focusing each chapter on a single species we have lost forever. The young reader's adaptation has black-and-white illustrations and a glossary to buffer a challenging text. While the book is eye-opening, the tone is not all negative, and Kolbert makes strong connections to history. Humans have "succeeded extravagantly at the expense of other species [like an] evolutionary arms race." Educators could use this work in literary nonfiction units analyzing Kolbert's metaphors and idioms, as well as units on natural history and current events. Even though this is a dense text, the subject matter alone should render it required curriculum. VERDICT Essential for science discussions on mass extinctions to challenge advanced middle grade readers.—Laura Dooley-Taylor

School Library Journal

2023-11-04
This young readers’ adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize–winning original reads like a combination of a dystopian novel and a nature documentary.

After a gripping prologue that firmly establishes humans as the cause of the Sixth Extinction, Kolbert navigates the history of the previous Big Five extinctions, introduces scientists who dedicate their lives to understanding them, and describes the efforts of modern researchers who are working to document and advocate for species around the world that are nearing extinction. The book concludes with a conundrum: Now that we know we’re the cause of the Sixth Extinction, what will our evolutionary legacy be? The narrative of this abridged version contains each of the original book’s 13 chapters and is written with specificity and wit. Kolbert’s first-person account conveys technical ideas while also painting pictures of the personalities of the scientists themselves. The descriptions of creatures—some encountered as fossils—are pithy and vivid. Some scientific concepts and terms are explained, but in general a strong grasp of evolution and scientific principles is required to appreciate the text. The book has a few simple line drawings but no charts, photographs, or other visual means of clarification; more serious omissions are the lack of a bibliography and source notes. However, in addition to clearly synthesizing a large amount of research, this book’s virtue lies in the emotional gut punch it delivers.

A wide-ranging, urgent, and emotionally effective call to action. (author’s note, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews