Happy Book Birthday, How to Change Everything by Naomi Klein

 

HOW TO CHANGE EVERYTHING

by Naomi Klein

adapted by Rebecca Stefoff

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Upper Middle Grade Non-Fiction

336 pages

ages 10 and up

An empowering, engaging young readers guide to understanding and battling climate change from the expert and bestselling author of This Changes Everything and On Fire, Naomi Klein.

Warmer temperatures. Fires in the Amazon. Superstorms. These are just some of the effects of climate change that we are already experiencing.

The good news is that we can all do something about it. A movement is already underway to combat not only the environmental effects of climate change but also to fight for climate justice and make a fair and livable future possible for everyone. And young people are not just part of that movement, they are leading the way. They are showing us that this moment of danger is also a moment of great opportunity—an opportunity to change everything.

Full of empowering stories of young leaders all over the world, this information-packed book from award-winning journalist and one of the foremost voices for climate justice, Naomi Klein, offers young readers a comprehensive look at the state of the climate today and how we got here, while also providing the tools they need to join this fight to protect and reshape the planet they will inherit. 

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BOOK BLINK

                                          * addresses many aspects of climate change

                                          * offers examples from around the world

                                          * includes real life photos

                                          * based on year long research 

MY TIDBITS

This book encompasses the broad reaching research of the author into various arguments and real life examples behind climate change, and delivers them in a well-thought out and supported manner.

To say that this book centers around the theme climate change, doesn't really do it justice. This book is chucked full of passionate research, arguments and well-laid together examples, and create a treasure chest of information. So many aspects surrounding the theme are addressed, that this book alone broadens the horizons and leaves the reader packed with information. But it goes further than that and offers the reader suggestions on how things can be changed. 

This is not an easy read, and it carries quite a bit of weight on the information and fact end. Readers interested in the subject will find what they are looking for and more. The author spends no time with leisure, but uses every page to demonstrate and support climate change. The book starts out with the 2019 student climate protest, allowing the first pages to connect with the intended audience age group, and shows examples such as Greta Thunberg to hit the idea home that kids can have an influence, too. After this, it shoots off around the world to explain what climate change is, the factors, predictions, examples, what's been attempted, what's worked, and what hasn't as well as ideas and food for thought on how things need to continue or what can still be done. 

Everything is presented in a logical manner and driven forward by examples. The accompanying photos and illustrations help drive certain points home or simply aid the reader in identifying certain situations. For anyone interested in the subject and wanting to learn more, it delivers and then some. 

This isn't easy subject material to bring across to this age group, but the author does a pretty good job. The vocabulary, for the most part, stays at the intended level, and the arguments are laid out in a way that upper middle graders can follow and understand. But it's a lot. The arguments and examples hit with rapid fire and swerve right from one into the next. It's not something to sit down and easily digest, but becomes heavy quick. As said, for those with interest in the topic, it's great. For those without...it's a lot. 

Examples are delivered from around the world and support every beat. This not only is necessary for the idea of climate change but also gave lovely insight into the rest of the world. But I'm not sure it's digestible to the intended audience. The names and places are dropped at a hat...many of which readers know little to nothing about. While this isn't the point, it still shoves a huge wedge between the information and reader, which leaves them disconnected. For most readers, I believe this book holds too much too fast. But for the right reader, it's a treasure chest of information.

And here they are...

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, columnist, and author of the New York Times and international bestsellers The Shock Doctrine, No Logo, This Changes Everything, and No Is Not Enough. A Senior Correspondent for The Intercept, reporter for Rolling Stone, and contributor for both The Nation and The Guardian, Klein is the inaugural Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture, and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University. She is cofounder of the climate justice organization The Leap.

Rebecca Stefoff published her first books when she was in college and has been writing ever since. She has written many nonfiction books for children and young adults, with an emphasis on science and history. Through her books teenage readers can explore topics as varied as ghosts, robots, bacteria, evolution, women pioneers, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, forensic crime solving, and more. She lives in Portland, Oregon.