A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out

by Nicholas Day, Yas Imamura (illustrator)

Discover how Mount Tambora's catastrophic eruption plunged the world into darkness, altering the global climate and inspiring the likes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

The world was upside-down. The wind was fire. The sky was ash. The rain was rock.

When Mount Tambora, a volcano on the edge of the Indonesian archipelago, erupted in April 1815, it was the largest explosion in recorded history. The land around Indonesia was a hellscape of fire and smoke. In the months and years that followed, the fallout—a cloud of impossibly fine ash— spread through the atmosphere. It killed harvests on the other side of the world. It turned farmers into beggars and their children into orphans. It turned sunsets into molten nightmares.

That same year, eighteen-year-old Mary Shelley fled England with poet Percy Shelley. While sheltering from the worst summer in Switzerland’s history, she watched the explosive thunderstorms over Lake Geneva and caught the spark of an idea. Almost overnight, Frankenstein was written.

In this work of middle grade nonfiction, Nicholas Day traces the forward and backward of a single event, weaving in the many people, places, and things that were affected—and created and invented!—as a result, while tackling the ever-worrying issue of climate change.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade, History, Science, Childrens, Historical, Environment

304 pages, Hardcover

Published September 9, 2025

About the author

Nicholas Day is the author of The Mona Lisa Vanishes, illustrated by Brett Helquist, winner of the Robert F. Sibert Award and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction; A World Without Summer, illustrated by Yas Imamura; and Nothing: John Cage and 4’33”, illustrated by Chris Raschka. For adults, he’s the author of Baby Meets World, a work about the science and history of infancy, which Mary Roach called “a perfect book.” He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with his family.

Reviews

[Skye Elder · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC Review!!!
This book is truly a phenomenal book!!!📖
The history behind it to bringing the reader to read in a different perspective is incredible!
And the artwork is beautiful!!
This is definitely one of my new favorites!

[Kailyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This middle grade nonfiction title about the ramifications of a volcanic eruption in 1816 was fascinating, but definitely agenda-driven. The author is forthcoming about the fact that he sees what happened in 1816 - dramatic climate change resulting in bizarre weather and catastrophic famine and disease - as the harbinger for present-day climate change and tries to use the details of the historical events to inspire action in the present day. I don't give my kids books that draw conclusions like this on their behalf, especially when our interest in this topic is primarily historical and not ecological, so I will be opting not to share it with them. But I think this is a fantastic topic for a book, and I went down the rabbit hole looking up even more information after I finished reading what was presented here. I do think there could have been a little less about Mary Shelley, but having just read Frankenstein this year, I did find all of that information very interesting.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5!

Too much Mary Shelley backstory to keep the focus, but such a great narrative non-fiction socio-enviro account that pivots towards a call to empathy and action.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Listened to this as we drove all over Costa Rica. Learned a ton!

[Emily McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not without flaws, but readers will probably be willing to overlook these because this is an untold story. Similar to Everything is Tuberculosis, as it connects a single distant event, the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, to a chain of catastrophes—though a prominent Mary Shelley storyline felt tangential.

Shelley’s life and experiences following the eruption are included to build an analogy to climate change, with humans as Frankenstein, and the climate his monster. This is a very clever, but also odd and unnecessary approach. The volcano is analogy enough. While this shows that the eruption was a global event, it also gives a surprisingly Western emphasis to the disaster. It is also potentially confusing to kids who might misunderstand and believe Frankenstein has more than a very indirect connection to Tambora.

The emergence of cholera following the eruption was fascinating and could have been expanded on and related to future disease threats. These more direct effects of the eruption are interesting enough to standalone and get readers thinking about a world without a winter.

[Barb Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written nonfiction book about the eruption of the volcano Mount Tambora and how it caused global climate change with clever tie-ins to Mary Shelley’s life and writing of Frankenstein. Targeted to young adults but great for us big adults as well. This will be on award lists. Fantastical written!

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUT - F'ING - STANDING!

Day writes the most engaging nonfiction, true crime at its best, even if the crime is a volcano going off. He show what is meant when Detective Lester Freamon in THE WIRE says the line "All the pieces matter."

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! More to come closer to the release date.

[Kevin Parkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author's previous book ("Mona Lisa Vanishes") was written for middle schoolers, but is legit one of my favorite books of the past decade. So... when I saw that the author had a new title ("A World Without Summer"), I eagerly scooped it up.

Both books have similarities:
(1) Both books feature two main stories - "Mona Lisa Vanishes" includes the story of how the Mona Lisa was originally painted, and the story of how it was stolen centuries later. "A World Without Summer" includes the volcanic explosion at Tambora and the writing of "Frankenstein." All four of these stories were ones I wasn't super familiar with before.
(2) Both stories included in both books were told with fantastic research, and plenty of quirky anecdotes that kept my interest and were so fun to hear.
(3) The stories were well told and woven together beautifully.
(4) The author draws out life lessons that connect both stories in each book.

So: I was able to find so much of what I loved from "Mona Lisa Vanishes" in this book, which was a REALLY good thing given how much I loved that book. I will concede I didn't think "A World Without Summer" is quite as tight as "Mona Lisa Vanishes." It tries to follow a similar structure, and didn't QUITE pull it off as well. Still, it's great in its own right. Maybe a 4.5 rounded up.

[Lisa Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read anything that Nicholas Day writes!!! His books are amazing. I learned so much from reading this book and spent meaning days going down internet search rabbit holes trying to learn even more. Great book!

[Cheryl Meibos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know anything about the Tambora volcano eruption in 1816. This book expanded my range of thinking and the authors did this in a well researched and interesting way. Reminded me of Malcolm Gladwell's style. Loved it. Definitely worthy of the Newbery award.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely fantastic! I enjoyed every moment and highly recommend it.

[Alana "Loni" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas Day is so good at writing nonfiction.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story of seemingly unrelated things! Climate change, Mary Shelley, the bicycle: all of them interesting in their own right, fascinating when tied together.

[Anna Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It all comes back to the ash."

Between 3 and 4 stars.

An engaging , quasi-narrative non-fiction work that might just (pardon the unintended pun) spark a fire of interest in historical events for younger readers.

The book follows the eruption of Mount Tambora and the aftermath that followed, which extended far beyond the volcano's immediate range and impacted countless lives--and the world--in immeasurable ways.

I found the messages in the book critically important for young (and let's be honest, older) readers today. Both the overarching messages of noticing what's going on in the world around you and taking action on it, and messages regarding helping others, acknowledging (and changing) the wide gap between the rich and the poor, and so on.

There is, perhaps, a bit too much of an emphasis on Mary Shelley... considering that the book repeatedly discusses the longstanding effects of the eruption, it's not unusual that her story is brought up, but I don't know that we needed to return to it repeatedly in order for the author to connect the book's themes to some of those found in Frankenstein. (But I did learn that Mary Shelley was, apparently, once bitten by a squirrel. So maybe it was worth it.)

Speaking of "apparently"--how much of the book is backed by solid sources? Well... now and then, the book does quote (or claims it is quoting--since there are no footnotes, it's not easy to check!) letters, newspaper articles, etc, which are refreshing and add more historical context to the sometimes sparse narration.

But... while the back of the book does contain an extensive bibliography, because it's written in a conversational style, there are no footnotes and no pointers for readers who might want to uncover the sources behind the events, people and claims made in the book.

(Some of which require more than a little scrutiny--it is a strange that the author at one point claims that until 1816, the poor generally hadn't protested or rioted against being hungry, while in the same book, it repeatedly talks about monarchs and the elite were worried because of the French Revolution. To say nothing of the various riots and protests throughout history prior to even the French Revolution of 1789... why would the elites be worried about discontented poor people, without the history of what happens when those people starve?)

It is frustrating, as someone with a longstanding interest in being open with where claims are coming from. I do recognize that this style of writing is not the norm for younger non-fiction, especially not this type of narrative style which is not intended to be rigorously academic but is meant to be something that hooks readers and doesn't let go.

Which it does! So I can set aside those scruples. Mostly.

The final chapter should be sobering for younger and older readers alike.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 4 out of 5]

On April 10, 1815, Mt. Tambora, on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, blew its top. It was the most deadly volcanic eruption in history: over 100,000 people died and the climate shock caused by the eruption caused seven years of bad weather, famine, disease and death throughout the world. It was the most cataclysmic climate event in history that no one has heard about.

In describing the force and violence of the eruption, the author furnishes first hand accounts and historical evidence of what happened, as well as scientific descriptions of the geology of volcanic eruptions. But he goes beyond the geology to show a connection to climate catastrophe that the contemporaries of the event could not fathom. The entire world suffered, either by prolonged flooding or drought, causing violent storms, altered seasons, fires, extremely short growing seasons and consequently a global famine. Alternating between countries’ predicaments in the wake of the eruption are chapters which show that Mary Shelley’s writing of Frankenstein is a direct result of her experience in the years following the eruption. Another fascinating thrust of the book is how societies were not prepared to help the people who became destitute and starving, and Day explains why in brief but succinct descriptions of how societies were structured. In the 19th century, there was the thinking that occasional famine was good, in order to reduce the number of poor people in the world. Day asks the reader, throughout the book, to consider questions of morality with respect to how the countries of the world dealt with the catastrophe. This is the ultimate intersectional treatment of how tragedy affects all of us – it touches on climate, geology, social science and literature. The conversational writing makes it easy to picture what went on during those years.

The book contains a strong bibliography and notes on sources quoted in the text. There is a table of contents and an index. Charming black and white images throughout the book break up the text, although they do not add anything substantive.

[Ilse O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

A volcano in Indonesia violently and apocalyptically erupted in 1815 with such force and destruction that it caused worldwide climate change on a devastating scale — and no one made the connection until almost 200 years later. He lays out just how this happened and how people were affected by and responded to these conditions.

What is most fascinating and important about this book is the way that Nicholas Day lays out connections and ways of thinking — not just about the specific events and causes/effects, but about the ways in which we all notice, interpret, and respond to them.

He also offers insights into the writing process at several points, noting for example that he could pile on more anecdotes about badness — but he doesn’t. That might increase the ease of which we are conditioned to it and stop noticing it. “Pay attention to that feeling that you don’t need to pay attention. Because if it is true for these Tambora years — this apocalyptic streak of bad weather — it might be true for ours, too.”

The impact of Tambora included the genesis of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (the setting, the weather, the circumstances may not have come together to inspire her to write this) — AND some of the ideas and themes in it: hunger, vicious storms, ugliness, power.
In light of what happened in the past — with climate change and human folly — he asks us to consider what to do now when the when the world suddenly goes wrong. “We ought to puzzle this out together…”

“We are not the main character in our own lives…everything we do turns on a stable, predictable climate.”

Day’s first nonfiction book, the award-winning The Mona Lisa Vanishes was equally as fascinating.

Highly recommend.

[Xena! · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a middle grade non-fiction book; hence there are very few reviews. I think it should be mandatory reading for every child and adult. The book tells the fascinating story of the eruption of a volcano in Indonesia in 1815 that results in devastating climate change throughout most of the world that results in widespread starvation, destruction of civilization, and migration. It is told with just enough scientific explanation to keep it interesting. As a limited climate change event, it can serve as a cautionary tale. The author has short chapters and occasionally stops to ask the reader leading questions: How gruesome should the descriptions be? Do too many facts obscure the horror of the devastation by normalizing it? Should people be helped in these situations? And of course there is, lurking behind the entire story, the facts of climate change today. The fact that the current climate change has been ongoing for decades may make it more obscure than one that blacks out the skies for 1 1/2 years after a volcano erupts thousands of miles away; this can make it even more normalized and therefore accepted without a challenge. An excellent book. Purchasing for my 9 year old grandchild.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars. As in The Mona Lisa Vanishes the author does an incredible job telling a gripping and entertaining story while weaving together history and art in a way that increases understanding both of the past and of the present. That said I do feel the present-ist lense applied, in this case that a volcanic climate shock of the 1880’s has a lot to tell us about our current climate interests, diminished my enjoyment. The history is fascinating on its own and I would have appreciated more latitude for the reader to draw their own connections to the present.
My persnickety attitude may be influenced by coming across several instances of ‘climate shock’ being used in the media as the forces that endeavor to keep us in a state of fear are working to rebrand natural disaster into something fresh and more terrifying.

LOVED the inclusion of Frankenstein though wished the author had acknowledged that its theme (distrust experts and men playing god) kind of works against the authors’ reverence for experts who will tell us what is happening and how to fix it.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

How serious can a volcanic eruption really be, no matter how destructive locally? And the eruption of Tambora in 1815 Indonesia was absolutely incredibly destructive locally. This starts with the local conditions and results (horrific even for the survivors of the initial eruption), then zooms out to the rest of the world. The author ties the resulting nonstop rain in Europe, the wild swings in temperature and lack of rain in the Americas, the worldwide famine, the lack of awareness of weather or climate, to Mary Shelley and her story of Frankenstein and his monster. The author occasionally takes a step back and talks meta about telling the story: how often can you say that the rain continued to fall, that people became gaunt with hunger, that they ate loaves of sawdust in desperation, before the reader becomes numb? And the end ties the abrupt, short-term climate change caused by Tambora to the slowly accumulating, long-term climate change we are experiencing now. I enjoyed the details, sharing lots of, "ooh, did you know" with fellow readers (always the mark of a good nonfiction).

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Nicholas Day's narrative style. He is skillful at keeping his historical narratives punchy and exciting, while also avoiding any 'dumbing down' for younger readers. I find Mary Shelley fascinating so I tend to gobble up anything I can find about her life and the creation of "Frankenstein". This did not disappoint.

I'm not scientifically-minded so early chapters about the catastrophic eruption of Tambora didn't initially draw me in. However, I really appreciated Day's ability to highlight why the eruption is so relevant today.

I have referred to both of Nicholas Day's children's titles as 'Erik Larsen Lite' which I feel is pretty accurate. Highly recommended, especially to kids and adults alike who want to learn about the far-reaching impact of this environmental disaster. It turns out climate change is a centuries-old problem that can be traced back to the 1800s and still influences weather to this day.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the voice Nicholas Day had writing The Mona Lisa Vanishes. Because of that I was very excited to read another book by him. A World Without Summer is a more serious read though the writing voice is as enjoyable. I knew nothing about Tambora's volcanic explosion or how it impacted the world for several years after. I was especially surprised by Mary Shelly being affcted by Tambora and that her writing Frankenstein occured during this time period. This is a book about the hearbreaking loss of life and nature as well as a thought provoking look into society. The author asks of us, as readers, some very important questions about society, the value of life, and what will we do with the future that is in our hands. I highly recommned this nonfiction book. It may just encourage readers to explore some of the historical connections.

[Kelly {SpaceOnTheBookcase] · Rating 3 out of 5]

A middle grade nonfiction socioenvironmental novel, A World Without Summer using the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia to the eventual writing of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, who fled from England to Switzerland with Percy Shelley the same year.

A World Without Summer is a unique piece because it calls on two pieces of history and intertwines them while telling a story. I found myself wanting more information about Mount Tambora and the people on the island and the aftermath while finding myself somewhat bored with the information about Mary Shelley. It felt like the eruption of Mount Tambora was rooted in historical knowledge while the information about Mary Shelley and her writing of Frankenstein was rooted in speculation.

While I think this book will appeal to many young reads, I struggled to invest in it.

Thank you Random House Kids for the gifted copy.

[Alyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book—and it did not disappoint. I learned so much! I was familiar with events like the writing of Frankenstein and widespread crop failures, but I hadn’t known that the cause behind them was the massive eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. At the time, science didn’t yet understand how such an eruption could affect global climate, but its impact was devastating and far-reaching, leading to what became known as the “Year Without a Summer.”

What was unexpected was how Mount Tambora’s eruption serves as a warning about climate shifts—and how that warning still applies to us today. The book makes a powerful case for paying attention to the connections between natural disasters, global systems, and human vulnerability.

I would definitely recommend this book. It’s everything I love in nonfiction: informative, eye-opening, and deeply relevant.

[Therearenobadbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, can't go wrong with that author and his amount of work, and we research always with accessible writing that makes the facts and history intertwine and read with emotion (although we get the very global idea of the events, we get the relevant information.) It's amazing how one volcano erupting brought so much climate change that it affected life in every sense. Plus... Mary Shelley and her Fankesntein novel also had the same effect on me when I had the youthful idea that the volcano had on our world. I wonder if Charles Dickens' snowy Christmas was also a Tambora product.
This book is awesome. It's like a Stephen's Fry QI episode dedicated to climate change and Mary Shelley with other historical events and famous personalities in the mix.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read so many informational books for children that are dry and boring, so it's extremely refreshing to pick up a Nicholas Day book. Authors, take note, because this is how you write nonfiction for children! I don't even like geology, but the man had me turning pages, eager to find out how this volcano was going to affect the other side of the world.

There is a lot woven in here, including the creation of Frankenstein and current day climate change, but it never feels overstuffed. The short chapters lead to expert pacing and the illustrations nicely complement the text.

My favorite line: "This is the fate of a world without the idea of expertise, a world without any sense of whom to trust." (108)

Could another Sibert award be in Day's future?

[Diana Strand · Rating 4 out of 5]

A World Without Summer covers the effects of the worst volcano ever recorded, the eruption of Mount Tambora in April of 1815. Yet Day does not just cover the immediate destruction of the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia or the effects of the tons of volcanic ash on weather all over the globe. He also ties in the inspiration for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the bicycle, and Westward Expansion in the United States. Like his The Mona Lisa Vanishes, Day is quite skilled in tying so many events together from the past while also weaving a cautionary tale for the present.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the digital ARC.

[Daniel Shumski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Day deftly tells a story from hundreds of years ago that echoes in our present day. He trusts the young reader, handling a hard story carefully but also forcefully: If we don't pay attention to the climate lessons of the past, what does that mean for our present and future?

He also does a good job of showing the interconnection of things amid the ugliness, e.g. against a backdrop of meteorological horror emerges the tale of Frankenstein. And yet, there are fun detours and little bright spots (witness the roots of the bicycle).

Sharp young readers will find this book engaging and rewarding, with plenty of did-you-know? moments to share with the adults in their lives.

[Kassy Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was a fascinating and well-executed blend of history, science, and literature. I loved the global view, as our history here tends to be heavily skewed towards focusing solely on American history without linking it to what was happening in the rest of the world. And I love Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, so it was really cool to get more background on her and her writing, even though that is a relatively small part of this book.

The writing is very clear and engaging, and the author asks some important questions linking the climate crisis of 1816 to today but doesn't beat the reader over the head with it.