AMAZON BESTSELLER “ Crows Calling is a parable of wisdom and kindness . . . You would be hard-pressed to find a more touching and emotionally resonant testament to the exquisite world we inhabit.” -Paul Hawken, The New York Times best-selling author of Carbon: The Book of Life Earth’s animals are fed up with humanity’s mindless damage to our common home. Will a young girl and her family heed their call? Ten-year-old Luz sets out on an overnight camping trip, accompanied by her spiritual mentor. Peering through a canopy of California redwoods, Luz witnesses a council of animals confronting the menace of climate change. Led by a lustrous—and talkative—American Crow named Koro, the animals weigh their options. Some, like Koro, want to collaborate with humans. Others doubt humanity’s good intentions. The conversation compels young Luz, innately in tune with the natural world, to fight passionately in its defense. At once a work of fact-based activism and a moving coming-of-age, Crows Calling immerses the reader in a richly-drawn family and community who, despite their differences, decide to dedicate their lives to the care of Grandmother Earth. They are not alone. Rather, they are accompanied by a colorful cast of savvy planimals —bears, coyotes, trees, and even chickens—with long memories and ancient ways of healing. However, some damage cannot be undone. Natural disasters, public apathy, and greed threaten everything that Luz and her friends are working for. Can the cross-species alliance find unity and resolve the climate crisis? "...  a magical story ... filled with humor, heart, and a deep sense of connection to the land and its many inhabitants. Readers will find themselves looking at the world in a new way."  ★★★★★  — Readers' Favorite "Crows Calling ... weaves together multiple perspectives, including those of animals ... lacing vivid imagery with lyrical prose to produce a tapestry of interwoven lives and ecosystems."  ★★★★★  — BookLife " ... a mind-altering journey that slips past our defenses and dualism, enveloping us in empathy for all creatures who face a faltering future. We are those creatures, too." — Paul Hawken, The New York Times best-selling author of Carbon: The Book of Life " ... speaks the compelling language of interspecies communion that thrusts the reader into burning questions of life on Earth."  —Jim Gilkeson, award-winning author of The Eleven Directions of Kansas A CONVERSATION WITH THE AUTHOR   How did you come to write Crows Calling?   I was taking a walk in a redwood forest near Oakland, California. It's a place I've visited often, so peaceful and restorative. I was standing in a quiet grove of redwoods, their brown-red trunks reaching to the sky. Suddenly, crows were calling from the emerald canopy above me. It was unlike any call I'd heard, insistent and serious, but not an alarm warning of an approaching hawk. It had a deeper resonance—more considered, if you will. I felt they were telling me how angry and upset they were at the destruction of the natural world around them. This is our home, they said, and it's your home too. You humans need to get your act together. And YOU need to be part of that. YOU need to convey OUR message to your fellow humans. We have GOT to live together in harmony. We'll be watching you, they said. That's when I started writing Crows Calling.   So that explains why Koro, the crow, plays such an important part in the story. But why did you decide to make her the narrator?   Actually, I hesitated about it. Some readers find it challenging. But the crows reminded me that it was their voice that was behind the story, so I had to. I've come to think of planimals as underrepresented voices in   What do you want readers to take away from Crows Calling?   I hope my readers start to think differently about how they relate to the rest of the natural world. I want them to tap into their own experiences relating to other life forms. Almost all of us have had some kind of communication with other plants and animals—planimals. Dogs and cats are most common for many of us. We know how they sense our thoughts and moods, how they communicate their wishes and their love. By giving the planimals voice, I make explicit those nonverbal communications. It's as if we could read their minds. When we remember that other animals and plants are like us, we can start to treat them with love and respect. If we do that, maybe we can all work together in love to heal the grave injuries of climate change.   What do you mean when you say "when we remember"?   I believe each of us knows, deep down inside, that we are part of the flesh and bone of nature, that we're of a piece with the world, that we all come from the same stuff, that we are all made of stars. This recognition is prevalent among traditional cultures. Fortunately, in America we have many Indigenous people still living here in our communities. Some of them can help us