"'We should have known the end was near.' So begins Imbolo Mbue's exquisite and devastating novel 'How Beautiful We Were.' Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by a large and powerful American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean up and financial reparations to...

An oil spill spells trouble for Seaside Sanctuary and the birds and other marine animals that live along the beach, including a young pelican that Elsa and Olivia rescue; all the birds need to be carefully cleaned and given medical attention--but there is another problem: until the spill is cleaned up the birds cannot be released, and the company responsible for the spill does not seem interested in doing its part.