Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear (Orca Think)

Written by Erin Silver

Illustrated by Xulin Wang

Orca Book Publishers

978-1-4598-4098-0

96 pp.

Ages 9–12

February 2026 

 

Reviewing Erin Silver's latest non-fiction book, Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear on Earth Day seems fitting. On a day on which we celebrate our Earth and how to protect it, we have much to learn from a book about global locations threatened by climate change.

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

Erin Silver, who has written countless books of non-fiction including Good Food, Bad Waste (2023), Mighty Scared: The Amazing Ways Animals Defend Themselves (2024), and Plant Attack (2025), takes on the challenging topic of climate change. However, by taking the perspective of showcasing key locations, from the Arctic to the Pacific Islands and the Amazon rainforest, Erin Silver speaks less of generalities and more to familiar sites and places people live. 

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

The book is organized into four major chapters:

1. Major Meltdown
2. Cue the Waterworks
3. Under Fire
4. Life on Earth

The first looks at the impacts of global warming on the ice caps in Antarctica and in the Arctic. The impacts examined go beyond the ice sheets and glaciers, and into the water, the krill, polar bears, and more. Insights from those who visit those locations are shared, as are suggestions about helping to combat climate change.

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

The next chapter looks at changing weather patterns, which cause more rain and severe storms in some areas, resulting in places being flooded, and sinking and shrinking. Mitigation with mangroves and engineering are just two approaches. Other areas will get drier, which could lead to food insecurity. A Q & A with a climate architect reveals much about solutions to this aspect of global warming. 

From Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear, written by Erin Silver, illustrated by Xulin Wang

The next chapter examines the fires in California and in British Columbia, while the final chapter looks at the threat to biodiversity, focusing on the Amazon rainforest and the Galápagos Islands. As in the earlier chapters, there are interviews, including with a climate adventurer and a biologist, info boxes called "The Info Express" with interesting tidbits,  and always assurances that activism can help. Completing this book are a comprehensive glossary and lists of resources for young people to access.

 

Erin Silver delivers a thorough examination of how climate change is affecting our world. And, though she makes it a global discussion, her research brings it closer to home, even if it's not our home specifically. It's a personal look at how global warming is impacting everyone and everywhere. That means it's up to everyone to do something, anything. With numerous photographs and Toronto's Xulin Wang's bold and colourful digital art, Gone Forever?: Places to See (and Save) Before They Disappear takes the reader around the world to see evidence of climate change. But with text and art combined, the message is not one of hopelessness but rather one of expectancy and action. And on this Earth Day, Gone Forever?—note the question mark—has a productive message to share.