Ultrawild by engineer Steve Mushin is an innovative, fact-packed graphic novel about sustainability that combines the humor of Dav Pilkey and the science of Dan Nott.
Rewilding is the act of introducing wildlife back into urban spaces. Ultrawild, already a nonfiction award-winner in its native New Zealand, explores how to stop climate change through "bonkers" rewilding experiments taken to the extreme. "NONE of these ideas have passed ANY KIND OF SAFETY TEST," warns author Mushin. "PLEASE EXPERIMENT WITH THE IDEAS ANYWAY." Human brains often end up in autopilot where they "become scared of anything new," Mushin explains. It's important, then, to think ludicrously and absurdly to break thought patterns, like considering turning lamp posts into luxury hotels for native animals or using abandoned sewers as rivers.
Despite its silliness, Ultrawild treats its imaginative ideas and its readers with the seriousness and care that the underlying issue of climate change deserves. With its well-cited experiments, links to additional scientific resources, and enthusiasm for all things imaginative, it's difficult to read the book and not want to rewild some part of the world--and to build a compost-firing cannon at the same time. The densely packed graphic novel can sometimes be challenging to follow--every page is crammed with flow charts, infographics, text, and images--but at the end of every experiment, a serene double-page spread of a reimagined world gives the eye a break. The amount of information Mushin packs into each page will surely give readers a feeling similar to their first nonfiction lift-the-flap book: if we just keep reading and exploring, anything is possible. --Nicole Brinkley, bookseller and writer