HOW TO SPELL CATASTROPHE

A funny and poignant middle grade novel that tackles eco-anxiety, and explores how kids can make a big difference in their communities.

Nell Fry McPherson is a self-declared expert on catastrophes. She knows exactly what to do if you're trapped in a lion's cage; if your elevator is plummeting. How to survive in case of tornadoes, or earthquakes, or bushfires. She knows how to deal with a broken bone or an allergic reaction, how to escape bears and sharks and piranhas.

But there is a lot she doesn't know how to deal with - like the new girl, Plum, or the upcoming spelling bee, or her mom breaking the news that they're moving in with her partner and his daughter, Amelia. Nell feels like her life is changing too fast, so she becomes hyper-focused on an even bigger change: climate change, the most terrifying catastrophe of all.

Inspired by Greta Thunberg, Nell is determined to do her part and convince her school to participate in a climate strike. But how can Nell fix the biggest catastrophe of all when she can't even fix the little catastrophes in her own life?

Fiona Wood is the award-winning author of four novels of young adult fiction, including Six Impossible Things, Wildlife, Cloudwish, and Take Three Girls, co-written with Simmone Howell and Cath Crowley. She has received three Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards and has been published internationally. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.