Team Trash: A Time Traveler’s Guide to Sustainability (Books for a Better Earth)

Two seemingly mismatched middle schoolers must partner up when tasked with a sustainability-themed assignment in this concise graphic novel debut by Wheeler and Huntington. Studious Charlie, portrayed with brown skin, has little faith that class clown Oliver, an East Asian–cued boy who prefers superheroes to research, will be much help with their project. The two routinely butt heads until they stumble upon a classmate’s project called Time Bot, a clunky object resembling a go-cart. When the duo climb into the machine, they’re mysteriously transported—with a “BWOOP!” and a “POP!”—to 72 CE Pompeii. Before they can travel back home, however, they must gather data surrounding recycling and sustainable practices or risk being stuck in the past forever. Subsequent time jumps to Edo-era Japan, 18th-century Philadelphia, and 19th-century N.Y.C. result in rapid-fire history lessons about resource management and environmental safety systems. While the overall pacing is sometimes choppy, the wide-ranging timeline provides glimpses into sustainability procedures spanning centuries, and the chronological momentum emphasizes the practice’s evolutionary elements and connectivity across cultures. These snack-size history lessons—rendered in eye-catching color and easy-to-follow paneling interspersed with brief instructional guides—employ lightly slapstick humor to deliver digestible informational fare. Ages 10–14. (Aug.)