The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs

The Brilliant Deep is the proud recipient of the ALA Notable Children's Books Award, the NSTA-CBC Best STEM Trade Books Award, the Junior Library Guild Selection and the ILA Teacher's Choices.

All it takes is one: one coral gamete to start a colony in the ocean, one person to make a difference in the world, one idea to help us heal the earth. The ongoing conservation efforts to save and rebuild the world's coral reefs—with hammer and glue, and grafts of newly grown coral—are the living legacy of environmental scientist Ken Nedimyer, founder of the Coral Restoration Foundation.

In telling the story of this sea conservation pioneer and marine life protector, Kate Messner and Matthew Forsythe create a stunning tribute to the wonders of nature and the power of human hope—a power even the smallest readers can access in their quest to aid our extraordinary planet.

The whole book beautifully captures how a single person (starting with one coral fragment) can rebuild a reef. It's a rare conservation story highlighting individual agency and capability.