Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver

Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver by Jill Heinerth is a spooky exploration into the most dangerous thing you can do on Earth!

I have always been equal parts fascinated and scared of caves. Imaging exploring on underwater!

From Penguin Random House:

As one of the most celebrated cave divers in the world, Jill Heinerth has seen the planet in a way almost no one has. In a workday, she might swim below your home, through conduits in volcanoes or cracks in the world's largest iceberg. She's an explorer, a scientist's eyes and hands underwater—discovering new species and examining our finite freshwater reserves—and a filmmaker documenting the wonders of underwater life. Often the lone woman in a male-dominated domain, she tests the limits of human endurance at every tight turn, risking her life with each mission. To not only survive in this world but excel, Jill has had to learn how to master self-doubt like no other.

Heinerth, Jill. (2019). Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver. New York: Ecco. 

How the Sea Came to Be: And All the Creatures In It

How the Sea Came to Be: And All the Creatures In It by Jennifer Berne, illustrated by Amanda Hall, is a gorgeous nonfiction picture book about how the Earth and life began.

Information and illustrations from before the Earth cooled to our current ocean dwellers, the science book is a delight. 

How the Sea Came to Be is the perfect introduction to Earth Science. Plus you will want to recreate the drawings as wallpaper!

Berne, Jennifer. (2023). How the Sea Came to Be: And All the Creatures in It. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.

Pocketful of Names

Pocketful of Names by Joe Coomer is the story of a tiny island off of Maine, and the family who lives there. 

The Island of Ten Acre No Nine is where great uncle Arno lived and based his lobster fishing. As a teenager Hannah spent her summers helping in the lobster boat for money to help with school during the year. 

While Arno and Hannah do not like many people, they get along well. He teacher her to fish and to live in live in solitude. 

When Hannah is an adult, after Arno dies, the island becomes hers. She plans to use it as a quiet place to work undisturbed. But no long after she moves in, a dog washes up with the tide.

The dog is only the first person who will invade her island - and with each person Hannah will have to adapt to having people to take care of and people who will take care of her.

Coomer has captured the feel of a tiny island in the cold sea. He makes the setting feel both appealing and isolating at the same time. 

Coomer, Joe. (2003). Pocketful of Names. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press.

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey is a nonfiction trill as she follows the possibility of massive waves around the globe with surfers, scientists, insurance agents and wreck salvagers.

Think of the wave at the end of Point Break - so big it is impossible to ride or even survive. Now consider that as larger waves were discovered by surfers, they adapted to the greater speed. Big wave surfers are towed to the wave crest by jet skis. 

What causes these waves? And the waves that are said to have eaten ships in the part of the map that used to say, "There be monsters?" And how can they be predicted for ships' safety?

Casey tells us the answers and current theories in this wonderful book. From Hawaii with Laird Hamilton to South Africa with a man who salvages ships in the most likely place for them to sink on the planet, she breaks down what is known and what it still to discover about the ocean and its waves, moods and forces.

If you are looking for an engaging, heart-pumping read in nonfiction, I wholly recommend this book.

Casey, Susan. (2010). The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean. New York: Doubleday.

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World

Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett tells the tale of the Grafton's shipwreck on the Auckland Islands, 285 miles from New Zealand in the year 1864.

Two businessmen in Sydney came up with the idea of a crew sailing to an uninhabited island in the frozen ocean south of Australia and New Zealand, find a rumored mine and fill the ship with wealth. Captain Musgrave, one of the men's nephew, and Francoise Raynal set about finding a small ship and a crew.

Joined by a cook and two seaman, the ship consists of men from 4 nations (England, France, Azores, and Norway), they embark on a get-rich-quick scheme that has them sailing some of the most dangerous waters on the planet.

Making it safely to the chosen island, there is no sign of a mine. To make up some of the revenue expended, the Musgrave and Raynal decide to stop in the Aucklands to hunt seals - something none of them has any experience with - to fill the ship.

A storm dashes them into the rocks of an island made of cliffs - scoured year round by wind and rain. Luckily, the ship remains partially intact, allowing them to make is safely to shore and take some supplies. What follows is a harrowing tale of survival accomplished by putting aside rank and focusing on needs, starting with building a shelter.

Told from survivor journals, and including the history of the Auckland Islands, the tale of the Grafton crew's two years on an inhospitable island is fascinating. The ingenuity of the crew and the ability to scavenge from the ship for materials to alter into tools is incredible. One of the best survival stories I have read.

Druett, Joan (2007). Island of the Lost: An Extraordinary Story of Survival at the Edge of the World. Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books.

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion

Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion by Loree Griffin Burns is a look at our oceans and what we are doing to them.

Since Benjamin Franklin ocean scientists have been looking at currents that affect travel. One way that Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer uses is to track things that have fallen off of container ships. For example, in May 1990 the Hansa Carrier ran into a major storm in the Pacific and lost 21 cargo containers. One was filled with Nike shoes.

Over the next few years, Ebbesmeyer and a society of beachcombers tracked where the shoes landed. The same was done with a container filled with 29,000 floating bath toys - ducks, frogs, beavers, and turtles. Where the toys were later found showed scientists how currents work.

One effect of the currents in the Pacific is that where they converge - in the middle of the ocean about half way between California and Hawaii - is a giant field of floating debris that has been said to be as big as Alaska. It is called the Great Garbage Patch. The plastics we use do not break down, they float, and they are creating a hazard for animals, fish and humans alike. From things that fall off of ships to discarded soda bottles that float down river to the ocean, this indestructible material is accumulating in the Pacific (and other places around the world's oceans).

As the plastic gets broken into smaller pieces through weather and rough currents, it is more likely to be eaten by sea turtles, jelly fish and birds. Larger pieces of plastic, including rope and fishing nets can cause tangles that kill fish and mammals. Though it is exciting to think of tracking a rubber ducky from a ship in the middle of the ocean to a beach in Oregon, the garbage and debris we create will eventually change the ocean currents, which in turn will affect the weather and climate. We all need to do our part to reduce the disposable plastics we use and make sure those we do purchase make it into a recycling bin.

Also check out this adult book on the subject - Moby Duck: The True Story of 28,000 Bath Toys Lost as Sea by Donovan Hohn.

Burns, Loree Griffin. (2007). Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.