Chesapeake Requiem, Earl Swift

This guy can write. His book is about Tangier Island, VA, -- a small community with a long history, that is disappearing into the Chesapeake due to global warming. Mapped by John Smith in 1608, this community is a religious one, home to crab and oyster boats. Earl is thorough in his reporting (he lived on the island for a year) and makes you feel as if you’re there with him as he tells the story of the island’s past, present, and questionable future. This story forces you to confront how to respond to the plight of a people who don’t believe in climate change, and significant populations in much larger and more complex issues that continue to face this country. If this small town cannot be saved, what awaits the remainder of the population living on the coasts as shorelines continue to retreat.