I received this book in exchange for an honest review, which has not altered my opinion of this book. I would like to thank NetGalley and The New Press for the ARC copy.

This is a very well done series of essays that I would be hard-pressed to not recommend to everyone. It is insightful, lyrical, emotional, and fully of information and emotion. There are twenty essays in this book about so many different aspects of life and how lives have been long affected by changes humans have wrought upon the earth. This is an exploration of long hidden and ignored persecution of natives, as well as their attempt to try and save the earth from the damage done to it.

Now, more than ever, I find that it’s important to listen to those who know the land better than anyone else and who have been trying to save society in order to try and learn more about our own history and the world around us. I’m not saying I’m guilt-free, but we all do need to start trying to figure out how to save the planet we have. There are several parts of this book when I had to pause and take a breath to thing about what was being said. This book really made me thing and I think that it should be required reading for everyone. Just everyone.

Overall, I can’t give this book anything less than 5 because it has impacted me and I still think about parts of it everyday. Highly recommend and can’t recommend enough!

I really appreciate the work that went in this book. There is no dearth of climate change activism and information right now but like this book elaborates, we need more indigenous voices at the fore. Highly recommended.

I chose this book because I believe it is always essential to plant your feet and take a few steps back to listen to the voices guiding us. I love interviews. I love the different perspectives and voices, where my take on climate change is brought to the forefront and spun on its head to insert other narratives.

There are a lot of great books on the topic of the land, climate, and the impact on people (inflamed is a great book to look at), but I like the intentionality of the essays and the perceptions introduced that aligned with my train of thought (crafted after much reading) that doesn't make you feel hopeless about the environment and the world,

Thank you, Netgalley and the New Press, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Generally speaking, my values are closer to those expressed in this book than they are to the mainstream society I’ve lived in. So these interviews were soothing even as they spoke of climate change, and societal failings, and attempts to destroy indigenous people, but I found it best to let some time pass between reading the different interview summaries. Often dealing with similar ideas, they could blur together if read in too short a time period. Their strength shows more clearly as individual respites from dealing with days of modern life.

Thanks to The New Press and NetGalley for the early copy to review.

Unlike other media about climate change, I actually walked away from this one with a hopeful/positive feeling. I feel like it’s one of those books that really sparks something in you to try to do what you can, where you can. Which is also one of the main overarching points in all these interviews: it’s not about what one thing that needs to be done that will fix this. Each of the people interviewed mentions different approaches and different problems that all contribute to climate issues, or just general disrespect of the Earth and all of the beings on it.

Each of the interviewees felt very intentionally picked (they were well qualified!), I really enjoyed reading all of their specific backgrounds, and how it lead them to work with what or who they work with today. I think marginalized voices (especially Indigenous voices) need to be heard on this topic because they are the ones impacted the most by climate change, even though they contribute the least. Would wholly recommend giving this a read.

Big thanks to The New Press publishing for providing me with an advanced copy!

Even with climate change increasingly on everyone’s mind, it’s still not often that I get to encounter indigenous voices on the topic. However, whenever I have gotten the chance, I have always found myself greatly welcoming the new perspectives. They are often thought-provoking and usually wedge me right out of my mental comfort zone in the best way possible. These perspectives also often carry heavy undercurrents of resilience and overt visions of a new relationship with the earth, which I have particularly appreciated as someone who has frequent bouts of climate anxiety.

So with all that being said, it’s probably no surprise whatsoever when I say that I was an instant fan of “We Are the Middle of Forever” and its numerous interviews with no less than 20 different native voices from a wide array of backgrounds. Every person given the opportunity to speak here not only provided me with a great deal to mentally chew on, but their combined based takes on what changes can and should be made in the face of the ongoing climate crisis have infused me with much-needed hope for the potential future.