The true story of how a massive catastrophic eruption plunged the world into darkness, altering the global climate and inspiring the likes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein —from the award-winning author of The Mona Lisa Vanishes and featuring black-and-white illustrations throughout. “A tour-de-force for our times . . . At once a heart-stopping tale of climate change and a profoundly hopeful call to action.”—Katherine Applegate, Newbery Medal winner for The One and Only Ivan A ROBERT F. SIBERT HONOR BOOK • A YALSA EXCELLENCE IN NONFICTION FINALIST • A SCBWI GOLDEN KITE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Horn Book, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, The Boston Globe The world was upside-down. The wind was fire. The sky was ash. The rain was rock. A couple of hundred years ago, on a quiet Indonesian island, a volcano called Tambora erupted with a force and violence that changed history. It tore apart the island, and in the months and years that followed, its fallout tore apart the world. The sun refused to shine; the rain refused to stop. Everything that everyone assumed would always be there—a world that made sense, a climate that made sense—was suddenly gone. From this riot of thunder and lightning, a young woman named Mary Shelley conceived of a scientist and his cursed creature. From the nightmare of Tambora, she wrote a nightmare of a book: Frankenstein —a terrifying reminder of how much damage we humans might do, without even realizing it. This is the story of a volcano that changed the world and a creature that changed us. Once upon a time, everything was different. And no one knew if it would ever be the same. In this masterful work, Nicholas Day, author of the Sibert Award–winning The Mona Lisa Vanishes , brings us a story taken from the archives but seemingly scripted for us today: a tale of climate change and human folly and hope—and what happens when the world suddenly goes wrong.