Erdman, Sarah, Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village, Holt, 2003.

This book gives a portrait of an African village in Ivory Coast, where Sarah Erdman lived for two years. She describes a place where sorcerers still conjure magic and where expected installments of electricity never occur, a place ravaged by AIDS. Erdman was the first Caucasian in the village since the time of the French colonialists.

Lytle, Mark, Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring and the Rise of the Environmental Movement, Oxford University Press, 2006.

This biography of Rachel Carson maps out her development as a scientist, her love of the sea, and her growing awareness of the environment and what was needed to protect it, culminating with her landmark, Silent Spring, which began the environmental movement in the United States.

Romashko, Sandra D., The Shell Book: A Complete Guide...