YA Novel on Climate Justice

September 11, 2024

YA Novel on Climate Justice

So, the world is ending and you don’t know what to do. Wildfires are ravaging forests across the Pacific Northwest, summers are growing progressively hotter, and entire island countries are drowning. What do you do? Well, I can’t help you with that one, but maybe Isa and Darius can. In her new YA romance novel, We Don’t Have Time for This, UW Honors alumna Brianna Craft explores the generational impact of climate change and ecoracism on BIPOC families via the lives of Isa, a girl who just wants to be with her family, and Darius, a boy who’s fighting to lead the world. With clashing ideas of how they should work with their high school environmental club to fight climate change, a rivalry quickly forms, but soon the friction between their personalities turns to sparks (do I sense enemies to lovers? I think I do). Will their personal agendas get in the way of progress, or will they use their separate interests to create something more?

Read the book to find out.

Two things I especially liked about it. THERE ARE SPOILERS, so read with caution.

The enemies to lovers trope was very well done. If you struggle to read enemies to lovers because it is often misconstrued by authors to be “a boy is really mean to a girl but then she decides she likes him anyway because he’s handsome” rather than “they don’t like each other at first because of misconceptions and rivalry, but both grow as people and fall in love not in spite of but because of their differences,” then this book is for you. Darius gets himself in check eventually.

This book also has AAPI representation, which I hardly ever see in media, so it was super cool to learn about Samoan culture through Isa’s experiences as an Afro-Samoan girl. For example, Isa does Samoan dance with her local APCC. Additionally, I liked the hint of class consciousness that was sprinkled in. The people who will be impacted most by climate change will be low income, and Craft did a great job of showing that through her narrative.

If you’ve read the book and you’re looking for a next step (or if you just like going to events,) come to a discussion and book signing with Brianna Craft at:

Photo of Brianna Craft by Gemma Turnbull

Monday, 23 September
Discussion & Signing, Elliott Bay Book Company
1521 10th Ave. Seattle, WA; 7-8pm

Friday, 27 September Signing, Barnes & Noble Northgate 401 NE Northgate Way #1100 Seattle, WA; 2-4pm

Other events across Washington can be found on her website.


Portrait of Devyn Gilbert

About the Author

Devyn Gilbert is a second year Honors Husky and volunteer who is majoring in Global and Regional Studies and intending to minor in Human Rights. In the future, he’d like to pursue research and grad school. You can see what he’s been up to this year at https://devyngilbert.weebly.com/ and you can contact him at devyng5@uw.edu.