A fallen angel somberly observes the world being destroyed by mankind’s greed, corruption and indifference. Realizing drastic measures are needed, he begins searching the globe for people who might join his quest to save the planet. He finds 17-year-old Zachary, whose family’s organic farm is being ruined by fracking; Haruto, living in Fukushima, Japan, where the nuclear meltdown is raging out of control; Mahakanta, a cotton farmer in India, who used GMO seeds with devastating results; the Amazonian tribe members, Conchita and her father, Pahtia, fighting against intruders illegally tearing down their rainforest; and the Bear Claw First Nation Tribe who are dealing with an unstoppable oil spill that is ruining their traditional hunting grounds. Using supernatural powers, the Earth Sentinels grab the world’s attention, but as the events unfold and countries retaliate, the characters are forced to question their motives and listen to their hearts.
My Review:
Earth Sentinels: The Storm Creators was not the kind of book I would normally read. However, the premise of the story drew me in because of my own real life experience with fracing in Wisconsin. I recently lost my home to the big oil companies and sand fracing companies who don't care about the earth, clean drinking water or the people in the communities they destroy.
The book begins with several different points of view from all over the world of native tribes, shamans from countries who have experienced natural disasters and tribes from the rain forests. The author did an amazing job of keeping the many different points of view clear and concise and you never felt confused. She made you feel invested in each character before she moved you on to the next and when they all came together into the Earth Sentinels you knew exactly who everyone was and what their reasons and mission were.
The Earth Sentinels used the spirit world and their totem animals to help create storms to bring attention to the damage that these large oil companies, and various governments, were doing to our earth. They didn't demand power, or money, they only demanded that the heads of government wake up and begin to see the damage taking place to the place we live.
The governments of course saw these storms as attacks and decided to retaliate with a war against the native tribes. I won't give spoilers, but the ending was fantastic!
This book raised a lot of questions in my mind as I was reading. Can we condone the acts of few to benefit many when their intentions are good and pure? Can we save our earth and make it a better place for our children and grandchildren? Are our hands tied by the big companies who have all the money and we are therefore left to our own devices in order to continue to live the dream of farming, organic farming and the like? Will we ever be able to recover our earth from the nightmare that is fracing or will our children and grandchildren have nothing but polluted lakes and unsafe drinking water because of what our governments are allowing to happen today?
I can answer a few of these questions from my own personal experience. Secretly, I wish there were Earth Sentinels to help us save our planet and show the powers that be what they are doing to our environment. Since there aren't, it is clear we need to work on these issues ourselves because if enough people raise their voices to the sky eventually we will be heard.
I highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone, including young teens and young adults. It's essentially profanity free, it is sex free and though there is violence in the terms of the storms, there is nothing in this book I wouldn't let my 10 and 12 year old read. In fact, my 12 year old will start reading it today! Thank you Elizabeth for writing a story that draws attention to the very important issue facing all of us today.