Our House Is on Fire

Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis

By: Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Malena Ernman, Beata Ernman

Narrated by: Maya Lindh

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

"A must-read ecological message of hope... Everyone with an interest in the future of this planet should read this book." (David Mitchell, The Guardian)

When climate activist Greta Thunberg was 11, her parents Malena and Svante, and her little sister Beata, were facing a crisis in their own home. Greta had stopped eating and speaking, and her mother and father had reconfigured their lives to care for her. Desperate and searching for answers, her parents discovered what was at the heart of Greta’s distress: her imperiled future on a rapidly heating planet.

Steered by Greta’s determination to understand the truth and generate change, they began to see the deep connections between their own suffering and the planet’s. Written by a remarkable family and told through the voice of an iconoclastic mother, Our House Is on Fire is the story of how they fought their problems at home by taking global action. And it is the story of how Greta decided to go on strike from school, igniting a worldwide rebellion.

©2020 Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Malena Ernman, Beata Ernman (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"An extraordinary account of how one family rose, with unshakable moral clarity, to the tremendous responsibility of being alive at the moment when our immediate collective decisions will determine the fate of life on Earth. They share their story of courage not because they want our accolades, but because they demand our company. Greta Thunberg has already inspired a global moment - this book is part of how we will win." (Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything)

“This blazingly candid family memoir reveals the grueling and bewildering struggles that propelled Greta onto the world stage.... An unnerving and profoundly enlightening chronicle of the symbiosis between human and planetary health as manifest within one remarkable family whose painful awakening to our ‘acute sustainability crisis’ should embolden us all.” (Booklist, starred review)

“An impassioned call to action and a vulnerable family portrait of neurodiversity.” (Kirkus)

An Urgent Calling In

This book cuts sharply, deeply, and necessarily through all the noise and demands our urgent attention and action to not just the climate crisis, but also to the all of the social causes that impact oppressed and marginalized people globally. A must read/listen for everyone.

Powerful

A family's desperate struggles to deal with the special needs of their kids, and their exhausting efforts to get healthcare and education systems to work with them.
Passion for the climate crisis and frustration with the world's lack of action.
The result is a bit scattered, but still, extremely important and touching messages.

Absolute must read

Exquisitely written, perfectly performed. Wow. Everyone needs to hear it - everyone. And then, we should all be a little more like Greta in our daily lives. Thank you to Greta and family for writing this.

Ecology or Economy

An awakening story of the fantastic results that can happen when children with significant challenges are diagnosed and treated. The entire world benefits.

Disturbing and profound insight we need to hear

This was at times a hard book to deal with because of the brutally honest account of what is going on in our economically privileged but horrifically ignorant society of self inflicted damage - to individuals who are trying to make it in our society while our children show deeply troubling symptoms of the unjust and hectic societal dysfunction, and to the whole of humanity's hope to have a home planet we can live on for next generations. Politicians know but daren't be radical and many would rather deny the truths that children around the world are begging us to look at, and change. Take a step back from the untenable idea of endless economic growth and embrace the facts that scientists have been showing us for decades and we have minutes left to axt accordingly. Speak up. Stand up. It takes courage and love and humanity has that. You may need to read something lighter in between some of the chapters but it is not all preaching at all - it is also a daring personal account of one family's awakening and stumbling, floundering, determined and most loving search for and embracing of the strength we have inside, each in our very unique way, to live in harmony and integrity with our own nature.

Excellent fill in of Greta's back story

Really enjoyed the book. Started off a little slow but some of that I attribute to me not knowing what to expect. But then it was a fascinating listen/read as we learn about young Greta's beginning and how she came to be who she is today. I look forward to following her life and how she will continue to try and save Earth from humanities own stupidity.

Heartbreaking and inspiring story

What a remarkable family, each one gifted in unique ways. The story is beautifully, intelligently told, so rich in detail and emotion. The family has contributed so much to helping families in crisis, mental health in young adults, and the environment. Highly recommended.