SEEKING LITERARY REPRESENTATION

Nimby

Nimby is my debut middle grade animal eco-adventure.

Exploring themes of loss, responsibility, and empathy against a backdrop of an endangered prairie ecosystem, Nimby will appeal to fans of Gregory Maguire’s Cress Watercress and C.C. Harrington’s Wildoak.

Told with whimsy grounded in scientific realism, Nimby is complete at 40,000 words and includes illustrations.

When a bulldozer threatens to crush her grassland home, prairie dog Nimby suggests that her town ask a notorious rattlesnake to scare away the human farmers from further destroying the land. The town applauds her proposal, but Nimby’s pride quickly fades—her father undertakes the task and is killed by the rattlesnake.

Hoping to save her town and redeem herself through her way with words, Nimby crosses the danger-filled grassland to persuade the humans to remove the bulldozer. Upon arriving at the farmhouse, however, she discovers humans speak a different language…and clearly want her species off “their” land. As Nimby comes to terms with her father’s death, she must also navigate the unfamiliar world of humans and find another way to win their support—a way without words.

Illustration samples

Eight full-page scenes and a map are planned,
plus a sprinkling of spot illustrations.

A story of environmental hope

Human settlement and agriculture, amplified by the effects of climate change, have decimated the prairies of the American Midwest. This poses tremendous challenges to native species, like black-tailed prairie dogs.

But, as Nimby shows, nature is resilient. Although we cannot recover the prairies we’ve destroyed, with empathy and action we can create new ecosystems—ones where humans and wildlife both thrive. As an environmentalist and trained scientist, I hope Nimby inspires people to imagine what our planet is like for those with whom we share it.

Because empathy opens new possibilities.

Astonishing facts about prairie dogs!

Nimby concludes with a brief nonfiction section that describes prairie dog biology, conservation, and the concept of nimbyism. Here are five tidbits:

1. Prairie dogs have one of the most complex communication systems known to humans.
2. Prairie dog burrows have different chambers for different uses, much like our own homes.
3. Female prairie dogs only have a five-hour window once a year to become pregnant.
4. Contrary to popular belief, prairie dogs vitally support grassland communities. With their digging and eating habits (and by being a food source), prairie dogs help dozens of native plant and animal species thrive.
5. Prairie dog populations have dwindled to less than five percent of their historic counts, as more than 95 percent of North American prairies have been degraded and destroyed by humans.