How to Survive the End of the WorldA Graphic Exploration of How to (Maybe) Avoid Extinction
MiTeenPress, 2026. 250 pages.
Review written June 9, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
I did not expect to enjoy this graphic nonfiction book as much as I did. ("Graphic" as in "graphic novel" - it's got a comics format, but is not a novel.) I don't like to think about the end of the world, but do like to think that I'm old enough the earth will outlive me, anyway. But young people today aren't so sure, and this book addresses some legitimate concerns.
Basically, it's a graphic novel presentation about the ways the earth might end - and what mankind is, or should be, or could be, doing about those things. After a chapter about "The Beginning," we've got chapters on "Plagues and Pandemics," "Deadly Blasts," "Climate Meltdown," "Killer Machines," "Falling Skies," and "Cosmic Collapse." Most of the chapters include historic events in those categories that threatened life on earth - we read of the Black Plague, of smallpox in the Americas, of enormous volcano blasts, and of meteorites that may have wiped out the dinosaurs.
There's also speculation about ways humanity could survive, including colonizing other planets - and the ethics that raises. But we've also got ways scientists are trying to prevent these disasters from happening - from pandemics to meteorite strikes, climate meltdown to AI destroying humanity.
It's all more interesting - and less morbid - than I had anticipated. I think it's fair to give teens the facts and set their minds thinking about the project of helping humanity survive. I was amazed by some of the innovative ideas presented here (part of what made it more hopeful than morbid) - and who knows whether readers of this book will set their minds to contributing more answers?