Landslide - by Betty Culley (Hardcover)

About the Book

Nathan, a perceptive ten-year-old who lives across from the town's controversial landfill, notices it shifting and must find a way to stop a looming garbage landslide and save his father, who works atop the heap driving the compactor.

Book Synopsis

A perceptive boy worries the landfill across the street is on the verge of collapse, forming a brave plan to save his dad who works at the top of the heap.

Nathan Savage has always been fascinated by anything that moves; he sees movement others don't notice. But what he sees now out his living room window sets off major alarm bells--the massive landfill across the road is shifting, and could be heading toward a catastrophic landslide.
The landfill is also where Nathan's dad works, on the top of the heap driving the huge compactor that crushes the garbage with its enormous metal wheels. The more Nathan watches the landfill, the more worried he becomes. What will happen to his father if he's at work when the garbage hill collapses? A fate that seems closer and closer to happening every day if Nathan doesn't act soon. But how does a ten-year old boy stop a force of nature? In this fascinating and fast-paced story, author Betty Culley exposes kids to lots of garbage, and the natural and environmental impact country landfills have on local towns.

Review Quotes

Praise for Landslide

A JLG Selection

"Culley grounds the story in solid environmental education, explaining rural landfills' acceptance of out-of-state waste and the cumulative dangers of exposure to environmental waste and landfill gases. The plot builds steadily, and Nathan's voice remains absorbing throughout, capturing a kid's determination to protect his family while grappling with complex community politics. The environmental message is clear but never heavy-handed, and Wilder's feelings about his condition add authentic representation. An author's note reveals the story is based on an actual Maine landfill collapse in 1989 and states that such disasters occur worldwide. An earnest, well-researched environmental tale that educates as it engages." --Kirkus

"Landslide will appeal to fans of environmental fiction, especially those who liked Carl Hiaasen's Hoot (2002) and Flush (2005), as well as readers interested in themes of activism." --Booklist

About the Author

Betty Culley is the award-winning author of young adult and middle grade novels. As a child, she was in foster care and then adopted and read everything she could get her hands on. Before becoming an author, she worked as an obstetrics nurse and as a pediatric home hospice nurse. She lives in a small town, where she tends a garden and a growing crabapple orchard and floats in her farm pond during Maine's brief summers.