Courtesy of Rodale/Penguin
This just in: Al Gore's bestseller An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It , the companion book to the box-office-juggernaut documentary of the same name except for the subtitle, which has launched countless puns like the one above, is to be adapted for young adults with a kid-friendly title, An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis Of Global Warming. The book, a co-publishing venture between first Inconvenient Truth publisher Rodale and Penguin's Young Readers Group, plans to "adapt Gore's powerful message for a generation that will have to confront the crisis of global warming," according to the press release. (Cheap adults might want to buy this version; it's priced at $16.00 for paperback and $23.00 hardcover, as opposed to the grown-up version, which has a paperback price of $21.95).
Gore is quoted as saying that "young people today are more aware of environmental problems than my generation ever was"; he doesn't mention Senator James Inhofe by name, but he's a good example of the not-aware part of Gore's generation. Gore is counting on the kids to make the crucial diffrerence: "I have faith that young people have both the ability and the enthusiasm to put a stop to global warming." Good Lord, let's hope so.
Super-fun kid-friendly changes include a new introduction by Al Gore, lots of pictures, and new chapter titles, including the pun-tastic "Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt"; eventually, will come with flooded cities, stranded polar bears, and as many penguins as Neil Cavuto can save, because he cares, dammit!
Full press release after the jump, just in case you were planning on throwing that soda can in the garbage instead of walking three feet to the recycling bin.
January 11, 2007, New York, NY - Penguin Young Readers Group and Rodale announced a co-publishing partnership today for the purpose of adapting US Vice President Al Gore's New York Times No. 1 best-selling book, AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It (Rodale Books; Paperback; $21.95; May 2006) for young readers. The young adult version, entitled AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH: THE CRISIS OF GLOBAL WARMING (Viking Children's Books/ Rodale Books; Trade paperback; $16.00; hardcover; $23.00; 208 pages; Ages 11 and up; April 2007), adapts Gore's powerful message for a generation that will have to confront the crisis of global warming.
The partnership was crafted by Vice President and Publisher of Rodale, Liz Perl and President of Penguin Young Readers Group, Doug Whiteman. All of Mr. Gore's profits from the young adult books will be donated to fighting global warming.
Al Gore commented, "There is no doubt that young people today are more aware of environmental problems than my generation ever was. As this new generation comes of age, it faces the enormous challenge of solving global warming. That's why I felt it was so important to adapt An Inconvenient Truth for them. In order to fix this crisis, everyone needs to be involved. I have faith that young people have both the ability and the enthusiasm to put a stop to global warming."
Whiteman commented on the importance of bringing Gore's message to this new audience, "As I sat in a theater watching Vice President Gore deliver his message on film, it struck me that if we are to make an impact on the problem of global warming in the near future, we must find a way to bring the message to a younger audience; to the generation that has the opportunity to effect real change. These books are our attempt to do just that."
Perl commented on Rodale's first partnership with a young readers' publisher, "This partnership is in line with Rodale's mission to inspire and enable people to improve their lives and the world around them. How better to protect the future of our planet than to arm our youth with the science, the knowledge, and the wisdom in books like An Inconvenient Truth?"
Rodale's An Inconvenient Truth, released in May 2006, received widespread critical acclaim from an array of leading critics, including Michiko Kakutani, of the New York Times, who wrote, "An Inconvenient Truth is lucid, harrowing and bluntly effective." Warren Bass of the Washington Post wrote, "Galvanizing... will convince plenty of readers that Earth genuinely does hang in the balance." With over 600,000 copies in print to date, the book explains the latest intelligence and authoritative research, facts, charts and graphs on global warming from top scientists around the world. It has spent 31 weeks and counting, on the New York Times best seller list and received major coverage in the national media arena.
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH - the book and the documentary of the same name - were inspired by a series of multi-media presentations about climate change that Mr. Gore regularly delivers to audiences around the world.
The Young Readers version of AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH Includes:
Scientists have proven beyond doubt that the Earth's climate is changing, and much faster than originally feared. Human beings are the cause of global warming, and if we don't take on the responsibility of solving it, our environment will change drastically. Some of those changes could include: polar bears becoming extinct as a result of the shrinking ice cap, forty percent of the people in the world confronting a shortage of drinking water, and hundreds of millions of people being forced from their homes because of rising water levels.
Speaking clearly and directly, using indisputable facts and visual examples to illuminate the subject for his audience, Gore explains that the crisis is happening right before our eyes. While human beings are the cause of this worldwide problem, we also have the technology and knowledge to solve it. Gore declares that the choice is ours: we can watch silently as the Earth changes forever, or we can take action and stop global warming.
Title: AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH: THE CRISIS OF GLOBAL WARMING
ISBN: 9780670062720 paperback
9780670062713 hardcover
Author: Al Gore
Pub. Date: April 2007
Imprint: Viking Children's Books/ Rodale Books
Price: $16.00 paperback
$23.00 hardcover
Pages: 208
Ages: 11 and up
Format: Trade paperback/ hardcover, non-fiction
About the author
The Honorable Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States, is currently the chairman of both Current TV and the Generational Investment Management. He was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1976 and the US Senate in 1984 and 1990, and served eight years as vice president from 1993 to 2000. He is the author of the 1992 best seller, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit (to be reissued by Rodale Books in November 2006). He remains a staunch advocate of environmental awareness and proactive engagement to meet the challenges of global warming and environmental pollution. Mr. Gore promotes the message that we have the tools and technologies to solve global environmental issues and create sustainable solutions, but we must take action now. He lives with his wife, Tipper, in Nashville, TN.
For more information about An Inconvenient Truth, please visit:
www.climatecrisis.net
