Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World Fighting to Find Us a Future

In this upbeat report, journalist Weisman (Countdown) profiles individuals working to make the world a better place, most of whom focus on environmental issues. For instance, Weisman describes the efforts of Marc Collins Chen, French Polynesia’s minister of tourism, to cope with rising sea levels by developing “modular floating neighborhoods that could be linked together into villages,” and how Spanish chef Ángel León’s quest for more sustainable food sources led him to develop tuna-head osso buco, crisped moray eel skin, and other dishes that make use of fish parts that are usually discarded. Weisman displays a novelist’s flair for characterization, as when he writes of Molly Jahn, a biologist working to create microbe-based food as a backup for crop failures: “A huge mirthful cackle... unexpectedly bursts from this slender woman with loose blond hair, dark blue eyes aflutter behind big glasses.” The vibrant portraits serve as a rousing testimony to human ingenuity and perseverance, perhaps best exemplified by the standout story of civil engineer Azzam Alwash. After unsuccessfully pleading with conservation groups and government agencies to resuscitate marshlands drained by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Alwash resorted to using shovels and an excavator to break through Hussein’s dams and restore that ecosystem. This inspires. Agent: Stuart Krichevsky, Stuart Krichevsky Literary. (Apr.)