Diary of a Young Naturalist

May 17, 2021
In this stunning debut, Northern Irish 16-year-old conservationist and activist McAnulty delivers a galvanizing love letter to nature. McAnulty, who’s on the autism spectrum, was often bullied in school and discovered that “wildlife and the magnificence of nature” made sense to him far more than other people. The author’s lush prose enchants as he chronicles a year of campaigning for climate justice and exploring the vastness of Northern Ireland’s outdoors, witnessing its beauty in everything from a silver-crowned chaffinch “with confetti flecks on its silver crown” to the intricate flight patterns of bats “making strange angles as they take to the air to feed.” Much like fellow activist Greta Thunberg, McAnulty sees his passion for climate justice as his superpower. He writes about juggling school, meetings with the Environment Minister at the London Zoo, and the emotional stress caused when “the urgency of supporting collapsing ecosystems and protecting wildlife gets overtaken by human narcissism and insecurity.” Even still, that doesn’t stop him from calling out the hypocrisy politicians often show in the face of climate change. “The Minister made grandiose promises and plans that day, but where are they now?” This should be required reading.