A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, a Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out

Day (The Mona Lisa Vanishes) and Imamura (Love in the Library) chronicle the story of Mount Tambora’s 1815 volcanic eruption in this intense accounting. Across four parts, engaging, sardonic-feeling text (“The world has been scheduled to end many times, yet it somehow never does”) traces the disaster’s initial shockwave through the Indonesian islands and the global consequences of the eruption, which caused weather anomalies that contributed to disease, drought, famine, and civil unrest. Day additionally describes how various groups, such as English farmers and Napoleonic War soldiers, were impacted by the blast and how societal differences like religion factored into peoples’ understanding of its effects. References to cultural historical markers—such as the 1818 publication of Frankenstein—demonstrate major scientific and political by-products of the traumatic events. Government document scans, newspaper excerpts, and more culminate in a multifaceted narrative that illustrates how natural disasters affect climate change, and challenges readers to consider, “How do you tell a story when the people in the story don’t know what’s happening?” Graceful b&w drawings add personality to at-times graphic depictions of catastrophe. Sources conclude. Ages 10–14. Author’s agent: Brenda Bowen, Book Group. Illustrator’s agent: Susan Penny, Bright Agency. (Sept.)