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Agent:
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Caryn Wiseman
Teen
True story
Nonfiction
How to Survive The End of the World
Katy Doughty
A young adult nonfiction about Disasters, AI, Humanity's Future, and an Exploration of How to (Maybe) Avoid Extinction
Since 99.9 percent of all species that have lived are extinct, it’s bound to be our turn eventually, right? So what’s most likely to kill us? A well-timed asteroid? Some new robot overlords? With wit and dry humor, debut graphic novelist Katy Doughty blends science and history to explore our chances of surviving disasters such as plagues, global warming, and alien invasion. Drawing on interviews with experts in fields like infectious diseases, AI, and interplanetary exploration, she combines cutting-edge research with compelling visuals: mugshots of the deadliest microbes, graphs of the winners and losers of mass extinction events, and a whole lot of dinosaur drawings. For apocalypse aficionados, the morbidly curious, and the just plain curious, this is your antidote to existential dread—a timely, imaginative, and ultimately hopeful take on humankind’s ability to survive the odds.
A spectacular achievement.
—Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
The author has distilled an impressive amount of research into a lucid, matter-of-fact narrative—and counterintuitive though it may seem, there’s a pervasive optimism running through the doom and gloom, a conviction that no matter what goes down, humanity is special enough that something of us will survive. The attractive illustrations in highly saturated colors illuminate the content through both imaginative whimsy and helpful diagrams. Brilliant; at once terrifying and fascinating.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
For such a dire topic, the tone is engaging and hardly doom-and-gloom, blending a huge variety of topics with a charming gallows humor. . . . The end won’t be pretty, but Doughty makes it pretty darn amusing.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
Doughty’s full-length comic debut is one for the ages—literally. . . . Sure to appeal to science enthusiasts, this comic will please fans of fun-loving adventure sci-fi well (think David Tennant–era Doctor Who).
—Booklist
Historical evidence as well as contemporary scientific and cultural expertise propel Doughty’s thoroughly researched nonfiction graphic novel. . . . Visual humor provides levity throughout fact-heavy infographic-style spreads and somber recreations of tragic events, while a recurring river motif suggests hope and optimism for the future.
—Publishers Weekly
MITeen Press