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Global

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Book Synopsis

This is a powerful, hopeful and timely graphic novel about the real effects of climate change: two young people on different continents whose lives are catastrophically changed by global warming.

Yuki lives in an increasingly deserted Inuit township in Nova Scotia. One day she sets out into the wilderness of the Arctic tundra planning to photograph a rare grolar bear (a terrifying grizzly-polar crossbreed created by climate change) – if she can prove it’s a grolar, she can protect it from being shot. With only her faithful dog for company and adrift on a fragment of melting glacier, she finds herself being stalked across the changing wilderness by a starving grolar bear, with only her wits and her harpoon to keep her alive.

Sami lives in a fishing village on the Bay of Bengal. But because of the ever-rising ocean level, each day is a struggle to survive. One night, Sami sets out to return to his old, submerged family home, alone. He takes a deep breath and dives beneath the moonlit waters, hoping to find his past.

Our Review Panel says...

This ambitious graphic novel highlights the devastating effects of climate change through the lives of two children on either side of the globe.

In the Bay of Bengal, Sami has lost his home, both his parents and the family’s lucky knife to a cyclone some years before. Now he and his grandfather are struggling to catch anything on their fishing trips and the cyclones are becoming fiercer and more frequent. Sami is set on recovering the knife, hoping that it will restore their good fortune, but doing so means disobeying his grandfather and taking risks that may threaten them all.

Meanwhil, Yuki lives north of the Arctic Circle where she too undertakes a dangerous mission. Setting off into the icy wilderness with her dog, Locky, she is determined to track a grolar bear – a cross-breed between a grizzly and a polar bear whose territories have collided as the climate has warmed. Soon it’s the grolar bear that is tracking Yuki and Locky. Can their close bond and indomitable spirit save them?

Subtly different colour palettes differentiate the two worlds and the switch from one to the other enables thrilling cliffhangers as each child in turn is flung into jeopardy. The pictures carry much of the emotional weight of the story too, conveying the impact of terrifying natural disasters on humans in marginalised communities. The greater the sense of panic, the more the reader has to look closely to make sense of the deliberately disordered illustrations.

Despite everything, the story never loses its faith in humanity. Sami’s grandfather is a model of how to behave with generosity and empathy no matter how bad things get and the story ends with a hope of connection, as a chance find puts the two children in touch with each other. It’s a gripping and emotional read that doesn’t shy away from its message and yet remains positive and uplifting – definitely a story not to miss!

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Global: Teaching Notes

A resource pack provided by the publisher to accompany the book Global.

Global

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