Future Hopes: Hopeful stories in a time of climate change edited by Wren James
In this collection of compelling short stories, edited by Wren James, authors including M. G. Leonard, Neal Shusterman and Tolá Okogwu offer hope for our planet in the face of climate change.
Skyscraper farms. Insects for dinner. Guerilla gardening. Nine authors pose ingenious and thought-provoking solutions to the climate crisis in this anthology of climate fiction. Rooted in real-world science and technology, the stories offer a roadmap for a future where our planet can thrive. From a rewilding project with unexpected consequences to a rebellion against augmented reality, these wide-ranging stories will leave the reader feeling a little less powerless in the fight to save planet Earth.
Full list of contributors: Eli Brown, L. R. Lam, M. G. Leonard, Rebecca Lim, Oisín McGann, Tolá Okogwu, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, Louie Stowell and Bijal Vachharajani
Categories: Science Fiction, fantasy, short stories, hopeful, teaching resource
Published by Walker Books (out now)
Fairhaven: A novel of climate optimism by Steve Willis and Jan Lee
What will it take to fix the climate crisis?
Grace Chan, born in Penang, Malaysia, has experienced the dire consequences of climate change personally and is taking action borne both of hope and desperation.Her story explores the implications, both at the global scale and and on a deeply personal level, of our common dilemma and the possibilities that are open to us.
Unlike most ‘cli fi’ novels, which present apocalyptic scenarios for the future, Fairhaven envisions in an engrossing, readily-accessible story for general readers how a range of practical climate adaptation and mitigation solutions could work when fully implemented.Fairhaven opens in 2036 as Grace is days away from assuming office as the President of the newly-formed Ocean Independent State. Driving along the edge of a Penang dyke to clear her mind, her truck crashes and she comes close to death as the tide rises. As she reviews her life, the reader comes to understand what has brought her (and the world) to this point, how she will move forward, and the surprising role that ordinary individuals can play.
Categories: contemporary adult fiction, optimism
Published by Habitat Press (out now)
Categories: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Politics, Heists
Published by Walker Books
Read Wren’s essay ‘Positivity in the apocalypse: can a climate fiction novel be uplifting?’
Set in a near-future world on the brink of ecological catastrophe, Wren James’s novel is a gripping, witty and romantic call to arms.
Gabrielle is a climate-change activist who shoots to fame when she becomes the first teenager to display a supernatural ability to grow plants from her skin. Hester is the millionaire daughter of an oil tycoon and the face of the family business. Theo comes from a long line of fishermen, but his parents are struggling to make ends meet.
On the face of it, the three have very little in common. Yet when Hester and Theo join Gabrielle and legions of other teenagers around the world in developing the strange new “Greenfingers” power, it becomes clear that to use their ability for good, they’ll need to learn to work together. But in a time of widespread corruption and greed, there are plenty of profit-hungry organizations who want to use the Greenfingers for their own ends. And not everyone would like to see the Earth saved…
As they navigate first love and family expectations, can the three teenagers pull off the ultimate heist and bring about a green rising?
Categories: Children’s Fiction, Magical Fantasy, Weather Fiction
Published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books (available now)
Children of the Throne by Joseph Coelho
On the hottest day of the year, three children watch from their tower block windows as golden leaves drift down to the baking pavement. The trees, tricked by the unseasonal heat, think autumn has arrived. While the grown-ups delight in the sunshine, the children worry for the trees – why isn’t anyone else concerned?
A wise tree shows them how to conjure rain and care for the forest, but by bravely finding a short-term solution, they inspire something much bigger – a long-term commitment from the adults around them. Together, they rediscover the hidden power of nature, setting a topsy-turvy world the right way up, and protecting it for the future.
This moving and hopeful first look at climate change is brought to life by the sweeping, emotive illustrations of Richard Johnson, Coelho’s close collaborator on Our Tower. A beautifully crafted book, it highlights the lesser-known signs of climate change in urban environments, helping children aged 5+ notice the changes happening in the world around them.
This inspiring story reminds children that even small actions can spark big change – and that by working together, we can help protect the world for generations to come.
Categories: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Novella, LGBT+, Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
Published by Tordotcom (available now)
A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Winner of the Hugo Award!
In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers’s delightful new Monk and Robot series, gives us hope for the future.
It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.
But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
They’re going to need to ask it a lot.
Becky Chambers’s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?
Categories: Young Adult, YA Sci-Fi, Climate Disaster, YA Dystopian, YA Action-Adventure
Published by Faber and Faber (available June 5th, 2025)
In a future where humans are enhanced to ensure the survival of society Akaego fights to prevent her power to grow plants from being weaponised by a corrupt regime.
In a near future London where extreme weather has depleted plant life, sixteen-year-olds must surgically augment an ability to ensure humanity’s survival. Having spent years training as a coder Akaego moves to a music academy after the discovery of her rare ability – she can project a vocal frequency that accelerates plant growth.
As Akaego learns to use her new skill and is chosen for a prestigious internship with the Mayor she begins to feel like she can really make a difference to society . . . and it doesn’t hurt that the Mayor’s gorgeous son, Joon, seems to be flirting with her.
But all is not as it seems. When the Freestakers, an anti-enhancement group, warn Akaego not to get augmented, she must learn to trust her instincts as she discovers the terrible truth of her ability and the lengths people are willing to go to to control it . . .
Can she discover the truth of her ability, find the courage to rebel and keep her power out of the hands of those wishing to control it?
No More Fairy Tales: Stories to Save the Planet edited by D.A. Baden
A collection of inspiring, funny, dark, mysterious, tragic, romantic, dramatic, upbeat and fantastical short stories.
These 24 stories are written by a variety of authors, with the aim to inspire readers with positive visions of what a sustainable society might look like and how we might get there.
The stories are diverse in style, ranging from whodunnits to sci-fi, romance to family drama, comedy to tragedy, and cover a range of solution types from high-tech to nature-based solutions, to more systemic aspects relating to our culture and political economy.
One night, Reshma, a young orphan girl appears in the village, alone and without any possessions. The villagers, not knowing what else to do, take her to Raj Nayak―the patriarch of the leading family in the village who has been organizing and leading anti-dam movements. For several years he’s been lobbying the corrupt government for fair compensation to be paid to the people who will lose their livelihoods and property to the mines and the flood. But Reshma’s presence, and the mystery of her origins, sets off a chain of events threatening the protests, the family, and Nilgi itself. Soon, secrets and corruption flood the village along with the waters.
In this poignant and beautiful debut, the reader discovers the damage―both to people and the environment―wrought by human hubris and greed, and asks whether it is ever too late to right a wrong?
Categories: anthology
Published by Habitat Press (out now)
The Change Agents: Whispers in the Wind by Sarah E. Lewis
Discover an optimistic climate fiction story of animals seeking an extraordinary partnership with humans and racing together against the climate crisis to save their shared world.
Eliza fears for her sanity as she stares at the assemblage of creatures before her, stunned at being invited to join their life-or-death climate mission. Struggling with whether she can juggle their mission with her demanding job as a local TV reporter, she accepts the challenge and begins an epic adventure. Collaborating with her previous canine companion, Bebop, Eliza explores the non-human part of our earth, a wondrous refuge called NoHoSap, and teams with a flamboyant array of creatures to engage people more broadly and deeply in the climate fight. Embarking together on a series of escapades, they forge an unprecedented alliance uniting humans and nature in the desperate race to save the earth from a changing climate.
Nature cries for help as the climate changes. Will you heed its whispers in the wind? The Change Agents: Whispers in the Wind provides a unique perspective on the topic of climate change, delivering a hopeful message that we can make a difference if we work together.
Categories: optimistic climate fiction; general fiction
Published by Spotlight Publishing (out now)
The Good-Hearted Gardeners by Suniti Namjoshi
What do you do when you fall in love with your next-door neighbour? You peer at each other through a hole in the fence and eventually climb over. Sybil is a member of The Good-Hearted Gardeners, a Society for Well-Meaning Efforts for the Betterment of Language and the Salvation of the Planet, which her lover, Demo, is allowed to join. It’ s funded by MI5, who ask them to monetise and weaponise the English language. Soon afterwards they discover that English is even more widespread than anyone had thought. Even the birds and the fish, the cows and the kangaroos can speak it – when they choose. The Good-Hearted Gardeners set about trying to talk to anyone – crows, magpies, robins, goldfish, cows, horses, rats, mice – who will talk to them.With climate change and technology gone mad, what’ s in store is a frightening scenario that threatens everyone – humans, animals, plants. Can the headlong rush to extinction be halted?When the birds, and the cows and the horses and the mice and all the rest come together, much is made possible. But at what cost? Will the planet and its inhabitants be saved? A comedic allegory for our future.
Categories: satirical fantasy
Published by Spinifex Press (out now)
Category: Near future, Science fiction, Thriller
Published by Paper Road Press (out now)
You can find a downloadable worksheet/discussion guide for The Stone Weta here.
The Stone Wētā by Octavia Cade
“We talk about the tyranny of distance a lot in this country. That distance will not save us.”
With governments denying climate science, scientists from affected countries and organizations are forced to traffic data to ensure the preservation of research that could in turn preserve the world. From Antarctica, to the Chihuahuan Desert, to the International Space Station, a fragile network forms. A web of knowledge. Secret. But not secret enough.
When the cold war of data preservation turns bloody – and then explosive – an underground network of scientists, all working in isolation, must decide how much they are willing to risk for the truth. For themselves, their colleagues, and their future.
Murder on Antarctic ice. A university lecturer’s car, found abandoned on a desert road. And the first crewed mission to colonize Mars, isolated and vulnerable in the depths of space.
How far would you go to save the world?
Category: near-future, political, science fiction
Published by Fordham University Press (out now)
Our Shared Storm: A Novel of Five Climate Futures by Andrew Dana Hudson
Through speculative fiction, five interlocking novelettes explore the possible realities of our climate future. What is the future of our climate? Given that our summers now regularly feature arctic heat waves and wildfire blood skies, polar vortex winters that reach all the way down to Texas, and “100-year” storms that hit every few months, it may seem that catastrophe is a done deal. As grim as things are, however, we still have options. Combining fiction and nonfiction and employing speculative tools for scholarly purposes, Our Shared Storm explores not just one potential climate future but five possible outcomes dependent upon our actions today. Set in the year 2054, during the Conference of the Parties global climate negotiations (a.k.a., The COP) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Each story features a common cast of characters, but with events unfolding differently for them—and human society—in each alternate universe. These five scenarios highlight the political, economic, and culture possibilities of futures where investments in climate adaptation and mitigation promised today have been successfully completed, kicked down the road, or abandoned altogether. From harrowing to hopeful, these stories highlight the choices we must make to stabilize the planet. Our Shared Storm is an experiment in deploying practice-based research methods to explore the opportunities and challenges of using climate fiction to engage scientific and academic frameworks. As such, the book includes an introduction and afterword, providing a framework for examining the SSPs as speculative narratives and the COP as a site for climate imaginaries, and offering a new theoretical contribution in the concept of “post-normal fiction”—a humanities iteration of sustainability’s “post-normal science.”
Category: solarpunk, queer, science fiction
Published by Queen of Swords Press (out now)
In a lush future, plants have stripped most of the poison from the air and bounty hunters keep resource hoarders in check. Orfeus only wants to be a travelling singer, famed and adored. She has her share of secrets, but she’s no energy criminal, so why does a bounty hunter want her dead? Not just any bounty hunter but the Wolf, most fearsome of all the Order of the Vengeful Wild. Orfeus will call in every favor she has to find out, seeking answers while clinging to her pride and fending off the hunters of the Wild. But she isn’t the only one at risk: every misstep endangers the enemies she turns into allies, and the allies she brings into danger. There are worse monsters than the Wolf hiding in this new green world.
Beauty and the Bin by Joanne O’Connell
Parents are humiliating – especially when they’re eco-warriors.
Laurie loves her family and she wants to join them in making the world a better place. But right now, she doesn’t want to fish food out of bins, she wants to wear a pair of ordinary tights and have the money to order a hot chocolate at the café after school.
When a competition comes to Silverdale High looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs, Laurie finds herself unexpectedly in the spotlight. The homemade beauty remedies and potions that she has been posting online are stealing the show, and the most popular girl in the school wants to team up for the win. It seems like Laurie can achieve normality – and even popularity – at last. But will her eco-warrior family accept that she no longer wants to be part of their close-knit gang, and can she find success and glory without losing sight of her true self?
Joanne O’Connell’s Beauty and the Bin is a fresh and funny debut about friends, family, school and being a young eco-warrior.
A UTOPIAN FUTURE.
A FORBIDDEN WILDERNESS.
TWO SISTERS TRYING TO SURVIVE.
Twenty-five years into the future, no humans are allowed in the Wildlands – a vast area in Britain where wolves, lynx and bison roam free. The only exception is a high-speed train line between London and Glasgow that crosses right through the heart of the project. Thirteen-year-old Astrid and her little sister, Indie, are onboard when their train slows to a brief, unexpected stop … and they find themselves accidentally left behind. Stranded in this place of astonishing natural wonders and terrible dangers, they have only a rucksack, a phone without signal – and each other. As every wrong turn takes them deeper into the Wildlands, do they have the ingenuity and determination to survive?
How far would YOU go to find your way home?
Perfect for fans of THE EXPLORER and THE LAST WILD, this riveting and emotional story takes place in an imagined future teeming with lost flora and fauna that we can only dream about encountering today.
Categories: adventure, survival, near-future utopia, hope punk, modern families
Published by Puffin (out in March 2025)
The First Rule of Climate Club by Carrie Firestone
An eighth grader starts a podcast on climate activism and rallies her friends to create lasting change in their local community and beyond. When Mary Kate Murphy joins a special science pilot program focused on climate change, the class opens her eyes to lots of things she never noticed before about her small suburban town:
Kids waste tons of food at school without a second thought. Parents leave their cars running in the pick-up lane all the time. People buy lots of clothes they don’t really need. Some of her friends who live in the city and are bused to her school don’t always feel included. And the mayor isn’t willing to listen to new ideas for fixing it all. Mary Kate and her friends have big plans to bring lasting change to their community and beyond. And now is the time for the young people to lead and the leaders to follow–or get out of the way.
Categories: Middle Grade, realistic fiction, activism, school
Published by Little, Brown and Penguin Random House (out now)
Amara and the Bats by Emma Reynolds
Environmental activism gets a nocturnal twist in this utterly charming picture book about a young girl and her mission to save the bats!
Amara loves bats! Her favorite thing to do is to collect bat facts and watch the amazing mammals fly at night by her house. But when Amara moves to a new town, she learns that her beloved bats no longer roost nearby because so many trees are being cut down.
Amara is upset. What can she do to help? She’s just one person, and the problem feels so much bigger than her. But after doing some research, she discovers that there are many young people making big changes all around the world. Inspired to take action, Amara gathers her new friends to help save the bats. Together, she knows they can make a difference!
Emma Reynolds crafts an inspiring story about community action, perseverance, and what to do in the face of climate anxiety. At its heart, this is a story about hope and finding a place to call home.
Categories: picture books, animals, conservation
Published by Atheneum Books (out now)
Climate Fiction Writers League 