Green beach reads

For Grist, Michelle Nijhuis, winner of the 2006 Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism, named 15 green books to take to the beach this summer.

One book on her list:

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird
Bruce Barcott, Random House, 2008

Environmental journalist Bruce Barcott follows the "Zoo Lady" of Belize as she battles a hydropower dam -- and attempts to save her adopted country's last nesting site for scarlet macaws. A larger-than-life character who once worked as a circus-tiger trainer, Sharon Matola faces her many foes with determination, a big mouth, and a passion for wildlife. Barcott's insights into Belizean society, and environmental set-tos in general, round out an engaging story.

Read about Number One on Nijhuis's list.

Related: Writers Read: Bruce Barcott.

--Marshal Zeringue