Climate Literacy in Education

After the Flood

Environmental Activism, Agency and Action in Sarah Guillory’s Nowhere Better than Here

Ben Screech

University of Gloucestershire

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/cle.v2i1.6226

Keywords: agency, story, home, empowerment, eco-citizenship, coastal erosion, floods, Louisiana

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Abstract

Sarah Guillory’s 2022 novel Nowhere Better Than Here explores how young people can take a proactive role in helping their community to mitigate the effects of ecological damage caused by climate change. The novel tells the story of Jillian Robichaux, whose Louisiana home is threatened by coastal erosion. Upon rescuing a box of old photographs of her town, Jillian is forced to contend with the extent to which her town is now almost unrecognizable due to the constant intrusion of flood waters. Jillian and her friends launch a project to plant marsh grass to counter the creeping erosion. In this way, Guillory balances dystopian aspects with a more optimistic outlook, in exploring the role of child agents in engaging in tangible actions to offset the effects of climate change.