An encouraging handbook for action.
Detailed profiles of 12 environmental activists prove that individuals can help save the world.
Ontario teen Sophia Mathur rallied, protested, and lobbied until her local government declared a climate emergency. Ian McAllister used civil disobedience and visual storytelling to spread awareness about Canada’s rainforests and defend them against destruction. Anne Innis Dagg pioneered the study of giraffe behavior in South Africa. Home-schooled siblings Rupert and Franny Yakelashek, inspired by David Suzuki’s Blue Dot campaign, have received international recognition for their activism. Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier spearheaded a legal battle to protect the Arctic. Each chapter covers the subject’s inspiration and early experiences, including childhood and family life, presenting their adventures and concluding with “Trailblazer Tips” that encourage readers to take specific actions. Biologist Bastedo narrates his encounters with these heroes as a journalist might, describing each as a relatable person in their element. The profiles include many direct quotes, offering a sense of immediacy. The focus on concrete goals, successes, and challenges will keep readers engaged. The coverage of many different aspects of the climate crisis makes a clear case for the urgency of the situation while the change-makers’ examples inspire hope that the human race, when informed and motivated, can meet the challenge. Most of the activists profiled are White; Mathur has Indian heritage, and Watt-Cloutier is Inuit.
An encouraging handbook for action. (resources, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-88995-569-1
Page Count: 330
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cogent of topic, but for readability, it’s aptly titled.
In urgent tones, a call for action as climate change and continuing waste and pollution of available fresh water pose imminent threats to human health and agriculture.
Drawing from recently published reports and news stories, Kallen paints an alarming picture. Aquifers are being sucked dry by large-scale agriculture, lake levels are falling, and water sources above- and belowground are being polluted. Though he points to a few significant counterefforts—the Clean Water Act (1972) in the United States and local initiatives elsewhere, such as “rainwater harvesting” ponds in India and Kenya—these come off as spotty responses that are often hobbled by political and corporate foot-dragging. He also points to shrinking glaciers and snow packs (plus, for added gloom, superstorms like Sandy) as harbingers of climate change that will lead to widespread future disaster. Aside from occasional incidents or examples and rare if telling photos, though, this jeremiad is largely composed of generalities and big numbers—not a formula for motivating young readers. Nor does the author offer budding eco-activists much in the way of either hope or ways to become part of the solution; for the latter, at least, Cathryn Berger Kaye’s Going Blue: A Teen’s Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands (2010) is a better choice.
Cogent of topic, but for readability, it’s aptly titled. (source notes, multimedia resource lists, index) (Nonfiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2646-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
From the cockamamie (extreme ironing) to daredevilry (rooftopping) to a fine day out (catacomb rambling), a taste of...
A hodgepodge of adventuring activities designed for urban settings gathered under the rubric “hacking,” as in the old sense of “play[ing] a sophisticated practical joke on a community,” though considerably more inclusive here.
Place hacking, for author Rosen, comprises three categories of activities: urban exploration, urban adventure and urban infiltration. By its nature, hacking is an outlaw activity, often involving a measure of risk and some illegal acts. There is an unofficial place-hacker code of conduct and an admirable acceptance of personal responsibility for one’s behavior, plus much preparation for the hairier deeds. Still, there are some seriously dangerous exploits recorded in these pages, from entering buildings that may harbor toxic wastes, unstable flooring or creatures unhappy with your visit—skunks, snakes—to scaling the outsides of skyscrapers. But there are also a host of activities that are unlikely to hospitalize or incarcerate the participant, from exploring the urban underground to parkour, a kind of nimble, freestyle run-and-leap through an urban landscape. Despite the disclaimer, “This book...is not intended to be a how-to guide,” there is a segment on staging an illegal exploration—but Rosen emphasizes the pleasure of discovery and the joy of participating in a sport with style and a goal of mastery.
From the cockamamie (extreme ironing) to daredevilry (rooftopping) to a fine day out (catacomb rambling), a taste of unbridled adventure for everyone. (Nonfiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2515-6
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
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