Today I’m sharing two books with strong environmental themes from the fabulous dyslexia-friendly publisher, Barrington Stoke.

‘The Invasion of Crooked Oak,’ by Dan Smith, illustrated by Chris King.

The local community are very unhappy about the fracking site on Carpenter’s Field. The local children used to play there – catching fish and building dens. When it’s suddenly and mysteriously fenced off, Nancy’s parents start acting very strangely – their faces are blank and they seem dead behind the eyes.

Nancy and her friends, Pete and Krish, decide to investigate and sneak onto the site under cover of darkness. What they find, is even more terrible than they imagined. A darkness is spreading across the inhabitants of Crooked Oak. Can the trio find a way to stop it before it’s too late?

An ingenious introduction to the process of fracking fused with a creepy mystery worthy of the X-Files. I love the classic B-movie moments in this story and I know a lot of young readers who are clamouring for this kind of story. 8+

‘World Burn Down,’ by Steve Cole, illustrated by Oriol Vidal.

Carlos is sick of being left alone in a rundown apartment whilst his mum heads out to protect the Amazon Rainforest from the many ‘land-grabbers’ out to transform the land for farming, logging or mining. His mum is the head of a specially-trained task force for Brazil’s environmental authority and works long hours.

But there are plenty of dangerous people who want to stop the work of IBAMA so they can continue to make big profits. They decide to teach Carlos’s mum a lesson by kidnapping her son and taking him deep into the Amazon. When the jeep he’s been travelling in gets cut off by fast-moving fires, Carlos escapes his captors and makes a run for it. With fires closing in all around him will Carlos ever be able to find his way out again?

This is a tense, fast-paced read which deftly highlights the many ways in which humans are destroying the Amazon Rainforest and the devastating impact that has on those animals and humans who rely on it for their survival. Vividly written, the threat of the out-of-control wildfires is truly terrifying. 8+

Two very different but equally excellent stories for readers to enjoy.

Library Girl.

*Many thanks to Barrington Stoke it sending me these titles to review*