Two Degrees by Alan Gratz

Title: Two Degrees

Author: Alan Gratz

Genre: Climate Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic Australia

Published: 1^st December 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 384

Price: $19.99

Synopsis:
Fire. Flood. Ice. Three forces of nature. Three kids swept up in a looming global catastrophe. Can they survive? In California, Akira Kristiansen is driving through the mountains with her dad when a wildfire sparks — and grows scarily fast. In just moments, Akira and her family have to evacuate but which way is safe with fire all around them? In Churchill, Manitoba, Owen Mackenzie is running a tour for travellers who’ve come to see the polar bears. Lately the bears show up more and more as the ice thins. When Owen and his friend see a bear much too close for comfort, they end up in a fight for their lives. In Miami, a hurricane bears down on Natalie Torres. That’s not so uncommon … but everyone’s saying this could be it. The Big One. Natalie and her mum don’t have anywhere to run to, so they hunker down to ride out the storm. Separated by hundreds of miles, Akira, Owen, and Natalie each struggle to survive against seemingly insurmountable odds. What ultimately connects the three kids is both surprising and hopeful: a commitment to changing the world, however and wherever they can.

~*~

In California, Akira Kristiansen faces a huge wildfire – called Morris. Akira and Sue are with their dads when they get separated, and the girls must find a way out of the flames and back to safety – but will they survive? And will Akira get back to her family? At the same time, in Churchill, Manitoba in Canada, Owen and his friend George are on the run from polar bears as the ice melts and the bears get closer to humans – what is going on and how can they get back to the small town they live in without being eaten? And in Miami, Florida, Natalie Torres has her world turned upside down when Hurricane Rueben, called the Big One, descends upon Florida. Natalie and her mum can’t run, yet the storm has its own idea and separates them for days – and neither knows if the other has survived. Each of these kids is separated by hundreds of miles, living very different lives in different areas of Northern America, yet they are all connected by the impact of climate change and something else that will surprise them all.

Two Degrees is one of the first books I have read aimed at young adult readers that directly deals with climate change by thrusting its protagonists across three different areas and three different stories that take place at the same time. It is much more confronting than other books I have read that discuss climate change, as we experience what Akira, George, Owen, and Natalie do first hand, with each character having their story divided into about five or six parts, and the story goes in and out of each story, leaving one character on a cliffhanger as we delve into one of the other stories. We are pulled into the heat, the ice, the storm the whole time – there is no respite for any of them, and therefore, no respite for the reader.

The is effective because it shows how drastic things are getting and could get in the future if we don’t start to act now and try to mitigate some of the effects of climate change. Two Degrees illustrates the extremes of fire and hurricanes, and the overarching impact of changing natural environments for wild animals through these stories. As a reader I was in there with them all, and it is a compelling read – you want to find out what happens but at the same time, I found that I occasionally had to set the book aside to process what had just happened – that’s how intense the story is, particularly Akira and Natalie’s stories. Living in Australia, we are no stranger to bushfires and floods, and have had catastrophic bushfire seasons in recent years, most recently at the end of 2019 when much of the east coast was on fire and there were people sheltering on a beach at Christmas and New Year under a red sky and choking smoke. Akira’s story brought back memories of seeing these images.

Overall, Two Degrees is an important story about connection in unlikely places, connection with people you never thought about, and finding something to fight for. And giving people the power and confidence to do something -to do what they can do within their lives to help and try to counteract climate change. It is a novel that young readers will hopefully resonate with.

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