Elem./MG – Be the Change: Rob Greenfield’s Call to Kids: Making a Difference in a Messed-Up World

Greenfield, Rob, and Antonia Banyard. Be the Change: Rob Greenfield’s Call to Kids: Making a Difference in a Messed-Up World. Greystone Kids, 2022. 978-1-771-64591-1. 87 p. $18.95. Grades 4-6.

This book is a blend of autobiographical information about the author, Rob Greenfield, and environmental activism facts and challenges. Rob Greenfield has a popular Youtube channel where he completes challenges such as growing all his own food for a year, or biking across the country on a bamboo bicycle, in order to raise awareness about environmental and sustainability issues. This book is an extension of his online media work and details the ways in which he has tried to live more sustainability and simply while also helping  kids to understand ideas like minimalism, recycling, food availability, and the global impact of different types of transportation.

THOUGHTS: This is an easy to read guide with a friendly tone and beautifully designed pages. The inspirational actions of Rob Greenfield make the book feel positive, even when delivering messages about world-wide issues like climate change, food shortages, and feeling disconnected from one’s community. The ideas in each chapter will be welcomed by students looking for ways to contribute positively to the world around them. Bright sidebars, bold text features, and short paragraphs with lots of pictures and white space on each page make the text an approachable read for upper elementary and middle school students alike.

333.72 Environmentalism and Conservation          Erin Faulkner, Cumberland Valley SD

YA Dystopian…A Girl Undone

girlundone

Linka, Catherine.  A Girl Undone.  New York: St. Martin’s Griffin.  2015.  978-1-250-06867-5.  $19.99. 296p. Gr. 9 and up.

A Girl Undone, by Catherine Linka, is just as action-packed and fast-paced as its predecessor, A Girl Called Fearless.  In a time when the United States government has made more irreparable mistakes than they would like to admit, women are bought and sold like livestock.  The men with the most money have the best prospects for wives including Jesop Hawkins, California gubernatorial hopeful.   Hawkins has contracted Aveline Reveare to be his future wife, but Avie is now a fugitive and suspected terrorist.  After living in Salvation, a remote Idaho compound, she is forced to leave her longtime boyfriend  in order to save her own life and the secrets entrusted to her by Maggie, a leader in the anti-government organization.  When Avie’s identity is discovered, she is swiftly returned to Hawkins’ estate where she is closely guarded until her wedding day. The Exodus organization  is stronger than Avie ever imagines, and she learns that she too is stronger than she knows.  THOUGHTS:  It has the appeal of a realistic dystopian that will hook readers and a fast-pace that will keep the readers reading.

Dystopian   Laura Ward, Fox Chapel Area High School