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Coming Soon, the GWE Book!

When I started writing the book of The Global Warming Express, I was eight years old. I had just visited the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA, the summer before. There were a lot of penguins at that aquarium, but they all looked sad and depressed. Why? Because they had to live in an aquarium with fake rocks instead of living in their own land. Why did they have to do that? Because they are all now endangered, which means in danger of becoming extinct (like the dinosaurs). Why are they endangered? Because of the ice melting so fast in the Antarctic!

So, when I thought of a magic train called The Global Warming Express, the first animal (well, bird) that I thought of to be on it was a penguin. That is how The Fluff was born! Creamy and Flora also came along because their lands and their communities are in danger because of global warming. And then when Joanna started illustrating the characters, they really came to life. But let me introduce them properly:

FluffThis is The FluffHe is an adelie penguin from Antarctica. When The Fluff was a chick his mother ate a piece of plastic that washed up on the shore, and she died. His father was a sea captain and was lost at sea when the ocean currents shifted. After being orphaned, The Fluff makes his way to the U.S., determined to get help for his endangered home by befriending those he most fears — the Humans. The Fluff is a practical, take-charge fellow; but during the journey he realizes that not every challenge has a logical solution, and that he needs to learn to dream, to imagine, and to think way outside the box in order to find ways to help his land and the other animals.

Early in the story The Fluff meets Creamy, a harp seal who was born in

Creamy2Greenland. She was moved to the San Diego Zoo when she was a pup, because her parents died on their migration when the icebergs started melting early. Creamy meets The Fluff when he is brought to the zoo upon his arrival in the U.S., and together they find an old zoo train that turns out to be magic, and becomes the Global Warming Express! Creamy

sees the good in everyone and everything, and to every problem her response is “Something good will happen.” Creamy needs to see that, when push comes to shove, she must act and to lead, and not wait for others to find the solutions.

Flora3Flora is another major character in the book. Flora is a polar bear from western Hudson Bay. One spring, when Flora and her parents were out hunting seals, the ice broke up early; and Flora was set adrift. She never saw her parents again. Eventually she makes her way overland to Glacier National Park, where she meets the Global Warming Express. Flora is a little bear with a lot of willpower, but she needs to learn that sometimes flexibility and a willingness to say no to one way of moving ahead and yes to a new way is the answer.

And here’s Croissant. He is a carrier pigeon who flies for the Pastry Express. He doesn’t have a speaking part, but he gets around; so you are likely to see him pop up here and there.

Marina