The Carbon Diaries 2015

Global warming is rapidly changing the world in Lloyd's accomplished first novel, in which the United Kingdom, still reeling from the Great Storm, becomes the first nation on Earth to institute mandatory carbon rationing, a 60% decrease in all energy use. Sixteen-year-old Laura just wants to pass her classes, play with her band and maybe catch the eye of cute neighbor Ravi. With the weather tipping wildly out of control, she and her highly dysfunctional family (“We are officially the bad family on the street now, the family that other families call the cops on”) must contend with blackouts, water shortages and riots, followed by torrential rains and the flooding of London. This gritty eco-thriller, made up of Laura's diary entries throughout the year 2015, features a nicely developed sense of place, complex and believable characters and an all-too-plausible near-future scenario, as Britons make do, pull together and triumph over adversity. Fans of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother and Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now should find this book a gripping read. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)