Wild Hope

Pangolins and polar bears, olms, lemurs, and leopards. We share the world with creatures magnificent, delicate, intricate--and now vanishing at a faster rate than at any other time in Earth's history. Spend Lent with twenty-five of these nearly extinct animals, embracing the frail mystery of ecological balance. Vivid descriptions of the miracle and peril faced by each critter will fill readers with wonder--and grief at what they suffer on a planet shaped by human choices. Their stories, while tragic and uncomfortable, will wake each reader to greater compassion and hope--which is what Lent, meaning "springtime," has always been for. These stories also wake in us a wild hope that from all this death and ruin, something new could rise. The promise of Lent is that something new will rise. In fact, as these stories attest, our hope, though wild, is not impossible and is already loose in the world.

"Wild Hope is the only book whose table of contents alone gave me chills. Here's the deal: the living world, life on planet Earth, is sacred. Author Gayle Boss yearns to show us that we live in a miracle. And she succeeds in showing us that we are not alone on this holy planet. This is a beautifully elegant, deeply excellent book, pursued by grace on every page, in every stunning illustration." --Carl Safina, ecologist, NYT bestselling author of Beyond Words and Becoming Wild; MacArthur Fellow and founder of The Safina Center

Pangolins and polar bears, olms, lemurs, and leopards. We share the world with creatures magnificent, delicate, intricate--and now vanishing at a faster rate than at any other time in Earth's history. Spend Lent with twenty-five of these nearly extinct animals, embracing the frail mystery of ecological balance. Vivid descriptions of the miracle and peril faced by each critter will fill readers with wonder--and grief at what they suffer on a planet shaped by human choices. Their stories, while tragic and uncomfortable, will wake each reader to greater compassion and hope--which is what Lent, meaning "springtime," has always been for. These stories also wake in us a wild hope that from all this death and ruin, something new could rise. The promise of Lent is that something new will rise. In fact, as these stories attest, our hope, though wild, is not impossible and is already loose in the world.

"Wild Hope is the only book whose table of contents alone gave me chills. Here's the deal: the living world, life on planet Earth, is sacred. Author Gayle Boss yearns to show us that we live in a miracle. And she succeeds in showing us that we are not alone on this holy planet. This is a beautifully elegant, deeply excellent book, pursued by grace on every page, in every stunning illustration." --Carl Safina, ecologist, NYT bestselling author of Beyond Words and Becoming Wild; MacArthur Fellow and founder of The Safina Center