Onward: 16 Climate Fiction Short Stories to Inspire Hope

A collection of 16 remarkable short stories for aspiring teen activists centered on the climate crisis, highlighting how small actions can make Earth sustainable against climate change.

Young adult powerhouse authors such as Erin Entrada Kelly and Jeff Zentner come together in this anthology of speculative, dystopian, and contemporary realistic fiction.

This inspiring collection of sixteen short stories is packed with fascinating characters and settings that illuminate current and possible changes to our planet and how humanity responds.

Included here is prose, verse, and personal essays from a wide range of authors diverse in ethnic background, geographic location, and socioeconomic status. A few tales:

• Shayta cares for a tiny green plant in a futuristic world where Earth has become a barren, over-farmed landscape fraught with dirt storms.
• Hana and her father travel by catamaran to the farthest place from land in the entire world--only to discover a giant, floating carcass of trash and a few other surprises.
• William and his family want to protect an endangered fish from a potential dam on a river that's flowed through their land for generations . . .

There's also a section where readers can find concrete and practical steps to help curtail the global climate crisis, including resources specific for every story. There's even a section specifically "For the Severely Overwhelmed."

This young adult anthology cultivates deep hope and stunning resilience--what we all need in order to make life on Earth more sustainable for us all.

"Whether you are feeling hopeful or frustrated about the climate crisis (or somewhere in-between), Onward: 16 Climate Fiction Short Stories to Inspire Hope is a captivating example of how the power of story can build resilience, activate hope, uncover blind spots and unstick us from our complacency. The fear and anger many of us feel right now is matched with equal humor, insight and beauty in this diverse collection of stories."
--Naisa Beaumont, environmental scientist and children's writer

Author: Nora Shalaway Carpenter,Erin Entrada Kelly,Gloria Muñoz
Publisher: Charlesbridge Teen
Published: 02/24/2026
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.60d
ISBN: 9781623546533
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/19/2026
Shelf Awareness 01/01/0001
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 11/01/2025
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2025

About the Author
Nora Shalaway Carpenter is the contributing editor of the critically acclaimed YA short story anthology Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions About Small-Town America. Her debut YA novel The Edge of Anything was named a Bank Street Best Book, a Kirkus Reviews Best book, and A Mighty Girl Best Book of the Year.