How to Change Everything

February 1, 2021

Gr 8 Up-Do you remember learning the three Rs of environmentalism-reduce, reuse, and recycle? Klein says a fourth, more important, R exists-the root. This root has many fibers (primarily capitalism and consumerism), but they all grow from humanity's subjugation of the Earth. Humans have arrived at a climate change cliff formed in the last 300 years due to mankind's insatiable hunger for fossil-fueled energy. Some damage to the ground, air, and water by extracting and burning those fuels is irreversible, but by acting now, the planet can be saved from disaster. Industrialized countries caused the biggest share of this damage, according to Klein. Because these countries created most of the problem, they should be responsible for reversing the effects, which disproportionately impact poorer and marginalized people. Klein discusses the need for a Green New Deal: a systemic, comprehensive, and permanent overhauling of the capitalistic and consumer-driven cultures of industrial society. She reminds readers that the United States has done it before. FDR's New Deal and the Marshall Plan were successful restructuring efforts that overhauled domestic and international systems. Klein encourages young people to get involved in groups that will work to reverse climate change. At more than 300 pages, this is still a daunting abridgment of Klein's adult title. However, her well-presented ideas are engaging and comprehensible. She reminds readers there is no Planet B. VERDICT A necessary purchase to educate teens on the seriousness of climate change and the imperative to enact change now.-Lisa Crandall, formerly at the Capital Area Dist. Lib., Holt, MI

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Starred review from December 15, 2020
This guide to climate justice for young people shows the roles of individuals, corporations, and governments in fighting for the planet and vulnerable populations. Divided into three parts--"Where We Are," "How We Got Here," and "What Happens Next"--this book explains some well-known facts and exposes many less-acknowledged realities about climate change and its disproportionate impact on poor communities and communities of color. Readers will find details about climate science, disaster capitalism, youth activism, geoengineering, the original New Deal and the Green New Deal, and more. With coverage of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, Indigenous people's initiatives for change, and lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic, the authors make a solid case for changing everything and offer practical and realistic steps for doing so. Klein's journalistic credentials and Stefoff's vast experience writing nonfiction for young readers merge to create an engaging account of how and why we find ourselves confronted with these urgent issues as well as how and why we might find our way out--if we work quickly. With its wide focus and pull-no-punches real talk, this book stands out among climate change books for its uniquely inclusive perspective that will inspire conviction, passion, and action. If you can get only one climate change book for youth, let it be this one. (resources, notes) (Nonfiction. 10-17)

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