Books Encourage Environmental Activism While Inspiring Hope and Joy by Sharon Kane

​Books Encourage Environmental Activism While Inspiring Hope and Joy

We love it when Sharon Kane is contributing to Dr. Bickmore's YA Wednesday. With a quick search in my files I found at least 5 other times going back to 2017. No doubt she has contributed more frequently. In addition, I think Sharon has been one of the prolific presenter at various incarnations of YAL Summit at different locations. In short, she is one of the real experts on the research and teaching of Young Adult Literature.

Sharon Kane is the author of Teaching and Reading New Adult Literature in High School and College (2023, Routledge); Integrating Literature in the Disciplines (2020, Routledge); and Literacy and Learning in the Content Areas: Enhancing Knowledge in the Disciplines, 4th Edition (2019, Routledge). A fifth edition of Literacy and Learning in the Content Areas is in progress; it will have environmental themes and resources threaded throughout the chapters.

Opening Prompt: Think of one word that best expresses something that you and/or your students can be doing right now to save, protect, or nurture the environment. If you can’t boil it down to one word but need to start with a phrase, that’s okay, but make it very specific. I’m not asking right now for an abstract concept like hope (though we’ll get to that). Try to think of something practical, immediate, and concrete. 

​I began my Classroom Practice session at last month’s YAL Summit with this prompt. It created a structure for exploring books and compiling a text set consisting of books that could be used to design a course on environmental action; or a club with that theme; or maybe even an outline for a school or district-wide plan to implement their commitment to sustainability. I’ll share some of the categories we explored, and I hope that you’ll add your ideas and book recommendations in the comments. 

A one-word solution to our planet’s peril? SEAWEED. In 2019, I participated in a Road Scholar hiking trip along the southwest coast of Ireland. It included a lecture by a seaweed scientist, who gave us treats as he explained that seaweed could feed the world as well as protect the oceans. I’ll never forget those yummy seaweed popsicles! So I was delighted to find Anita Sanchez’s The Forest in the Sea: Seaweed Solutions to Planetary Problems. The chapters and illustrations show people farming this superfood, filled with vitamins and minerals; and scientists studying ways to use seaweed as a source of energy to replace fossil fuels, and as ways to combat climate change and air and water pollution. The Seaweed Science sidebars invite readers to increase their knowledge and appreciation of this precious resource. 

Another book dealing with what we might consider unusual food sources is Diet for a Changing Climate: Food for Thought, by Christy Mihaly and Sue Heavenrich. The chapter titles might seem a bit intimidating: “Eat the Pushy Invasive Plants,” “Bugs for Lunch,” Crickets Are the Gateway Bug,” and “Rustle Up Some Grubs.” But the authors provide rationales for broadening our view of what is good to eat and assure us that it is possible to change our attitudes and tastes. The graphic novel Meal, by Blue Delliquanti, features a narrator who earned certification at a culinary school in the area of entomophagy. Yarrow is interviewing for a restaurant job, and must prepare a taco with specialty ingredients such as ant larvae, tarantulas, mealworms, and grasshoppers. Both these books offer recipes.    

​A second category that emerged from my Summit Classroom Practice session had to do with NATURE. Memoirs can provide true stories that teach us how to interact with and appreciate various aspects of the outdoors. In Birdgirl: Looking to the Skies in Search of a Better Future, Mya-Rose Craig (now in her early twenties) shares stories from her twitching trips in forty countries on seven continents during her childhood and adolescence, along with descriptions of some of the 5,000 different species she has seen. Mya’s family life had challenges, including her mother’s struggle with severe bipolar disorder; and her personal life was impacted by anxiety, racism, and Islamophobia. But her accomplishments are many. Her blog has been visited by millions of viewers; she organized a conference at age 14; she founded an organization, Black2Nature, inviting teenagers of color to engage with nature. Check out her TEDx Talk (Passion, Priorities and Perseverance | Mya-Rose Craig | TEDxUWE ) and this video of the 18-year-old Mya-Rose standing on an ice floe in the Arctic with a sign proclaiming, “Youth Strike for Climate” (https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&p=mya-rose+craig+on+ice+floe+protesting&type=E211US714G0#id=8&vid=9b9a95c7f6fd54db4f3804bfcb55b5a7&action=click).

Memoirs by scientists contain inspiring stories about how the authors came to love nature and how they continue to care for plants and animals. Geobiologist Hope Jahren’s Lab Girl is a personal account of the author’s environmental work in both lab and field. Readers will be eager to continue to learn from her in The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here. Her mantra is simple: “Use Less and Share More” (p. 88). In the appendix, “The Story of Less,” Jahren describes many small changes we can make to reduce our energy consumption, as well as to travel, spend money, and eat in ways that better the waters and atmosphere. She believes in our ultimate success.

Robin Wall Kimmerer is another scientist who shares love, hope, and herself in Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. The book contains a creation story and other Indigenous tales that teach the values of nurturing our earth and giving back in gratitude for all that nature offers us. In her Author’s Note, Kimmerer explains that she wrote Braiding Sweetgrass in a spirit of reciprocity with Anishinaabe teachings that were shared with her by both plants and people. “We’re told that the reason our ancestors held so tightly to these teachings was that the worldview the settlers tried to obliterate would one day be needed by all beings. Here, at the time of the Seventh Fire, of climate chaos, disconnection, and dishonor, I think that time is now” (p. 292). Our students can virtually be led by Kimmerer on nature hikes by checking out her YouTube posts.   

We want our students to honor the memory of the influential scientist and environmental writer Rachel Carson. Though she died just two years after publishing Silent Spring, her legacy continues as readers  embrace her writings, including the 40th Anniversary edition of Silent Spring, as well as biographies of Rachel Carson and works by today’s environmental scientists who connect their work with hers. And–breaking news– a previously unpublished text by Carson, Something about the Sky was just released on March 12, 2024, in the form of a picture book illustrated by Nikki McClure. 

​Some books provide instruction on how to interact with nature and/or do something concrete and practical toward solving an environmental problem. There are those that describe school and community gardens, for example, such as George Ancona’s It’s Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden and Emily Murphy’s Grow Now: How We Can Save our Health, Communities, and Planet—One Garden at a Time. The cover of Outdoor School: Animal Watching, by Mary Kay Carson, asserts its status as The Definitive Interactive Nature Guide. The subtitle of Darlene Cavalier, Catherine Hoffman,, and Caren Cooper’s The Field Guide to Citizen Science promises to tell How You Can Contribute to Scientific Research and Make a Difference. The picture book Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, by Susan Hood, may inspire readers to look around their own neighborhoods for opportunities to solve problems and create beauty. (It’s available in Spanish, also: El violín de Ada: La historia de la Orquesta de Reciclados del Paraguay.)

​A third one-word answer to the environmental crisis we face is PROTEST. There are numerous books introducing young people fighting back, confronting those adults who are not doing enough to nurture and heal the earth, or who are even causing conditions to worsen as they reap a profit. Greta Thunberg probably immediately comes to mind. Now 21, Greta continues to show leadership and bravery at climate rallies and at political and economic conferences. Her latest publication, The Climate Book, is a compilation of essays and documents by dozens of experts on various facets of climate change. There are other young activists around the globe fighting for their homelands and the earth as a whole. For example, Vanessa Nakate’s A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis contains chapters including “Finding My Cause,” “A Greener Uganda,” “We Are All Africa,” “Speaking Out for Women and Girls,” and “Rise Up for Justice.” Her final chapter, “What Can I Do?” offers ten specific ways readers can make a difference.  

Another form of protest involves lawsuits. At the beginning of The 21: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S. Government over Climate Change, by Elizabeth Rusch, there is a list of the 21 plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States. With the exception of two mothers, their ages range from 8 to 19. Readers will learn a lot about both the environment and the legal system as they read the 56 chapters filled with details of the history of this lawsuit. And they’ll get answers to the question posed in the title of Part IV: “Do Young People Have a Constitutional Right to a Stable Climate?”  

​Other forms of protest involve art, as Jessica Vitkus’s Crafting Change: Handmade Activism, Past and Present, shows. The book contains stories of protest involving sculpting, quilting, photography, street art, baking, and zines. There are instructions for projects, such as using embroidery to create a human billboard, and making bracelets that convey a message with beads. At the end of Emma Reynolds’ graphic novel collection, Drawn to Change the World: 16 Youth Climate Activists, 16 Artists, the author offers a challenge to readers: “Can you draw what you think the future might look like? Share it with us #DTCTWFuture” (p. 172).

​All these texts offer hope in addition to sound, concrete advice. So my final one word answer to our thought experiment about saving the planet is: BOOKS. It’s essential that we fill our classrooms with YA and New Adult (NA) memoirs of environmental activists (broadly defined); informational books filled with ideas for taking action; novels that show characters grappling with the problems and bravely facing the future with hope and love; and how-to books with advice and instructions. Through Reader’s Advisory, we can match students with the books that are right for them. Individual readers will learn some things about the big picture, and also find the pieces of the puzzle that they wish to devote themselves to. They will be able to collaborate with fellow activists; offer encouragement, appreciation, and joy to others; and seek ways to renew our precious earth.   

Closing Prompt: By providing books about environmental issues to our students, are we ourselves being activists? After you’ve written or thought for a moment about this question, consider, and maybe react to, this quote:

“Books are a form of political action.
Books are knowledge. Books are reflection.
Books change your mind.”
​
                   (Toni Morrison, in Reynolds, p. xiii)

​I’ll share my reaction to a related quote by Reynolds: “Art and books are a protest. This book is a protest” (p. xiv). Using Reynold’s book as a mentor text, I’ll say, “My YAL Summit Classroom Practice session was a protest. This YA Wednesday post is a protest. Every school and home garden we plant is a protest, and a commitment, and an act of love.” 

References

Below are references for the works cited above, as well as additional resources that can help us lead our students in a joyful, hopeful endeavor to heal our home.
Books about the Environment and Activism: A Reading List in Progress
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Ancona, G. (2013). It’s our garden: From seeds to harvest in a school garden. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Birnbaum, J., & Fox, L. (2014). Sustainable [r]evolution: Permaculture in ecovillages, urban farms, and communities worldwide. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
Carson, M.K. (2021). Outdoor school: Animal watching. Illus. E. Dahl. New York: Odd Dot.
Carson, R. (2024). Something about the sky. Illus. N. McClure. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Studio.
Carson, R. (2022). Silent spring, 40th Anniversary Edition. Mariner Books Classics.
Cavalier, D., Hoffman, C., & Cooper, C. (2020). The field guide to citizen science: How you can contribute to scientific research and make a difference. Portland, OR: Timber Press.
Craig, M. (2022). Birdgirl: Looking to the skies in search of a better future. New York: Celadon Books.
Delliquanti, B., with Ho, S. (2018). Meal. Chicago, IL: Iron Circus Comics.
Hood, S. (2016). Ada’s violin: the story of the recycled orchestra of Paraguay.  Illus. S.W. Comport. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Hood, S. (2016). El violín de Ada: La historia de la Orquesta de Reciclados del Paraguay. Illus. S.W. Comport. Trans. S. McConnell. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Jahren, H. (2021). The story of more: How we got to climate change and where to go from here, adapted for young adults. New York: Delacorte Press.
Jahren, H. (2017). Lab Girl. New York: Vintage Books.
Johnson, A.E., & Wilkinson, K.K., (Eds.). (2020). All we can save: Truth, courage, and solutions for the climate crisis. New York: One World.
Kane, S. (2023). Teaching New Adult literature in high school and college. New York: Routledge.
Kimmerer, R. W. (2022). Braiding sweetgrass for young adults: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Adapted by M.G. Smith. Illus. N Neidhardt. Minneapolis, MN: Zest Books.
Klein, N. with Stefoff, R. (2021). How to change everything: The young human’s guide to protecting the planet and each other. New York: Atheneum.
Levy, D.A. (2023). Breaking the mold: Changing the face of climate change. New York: Holiday House.
Love, A. (2021). DIY sustainable projects: 15 craft projects for eco-friendly living. London: Welbeck.
Malm, A. (2023). Fighting in a world on fire: The next generation’s guide to protecting the climate and saving the future. Adapted by J. Whipps and L. Whipps. Brooklyn, NY: Verso.
McDonnelll, P. (2011). Me … Jane. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Mihaly, C., & Heavenrich, S. (2019). amzn.to/3TKTbEFDiet for a changing climate: Food for thought. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books.
Murphy, E. (2022). Grow now: How we can save our health, communities, and planet—one garden at a time. Portland, OR: Timber Press.
Nakate, V. (2021). A bigger picture: My fight to bring a new African voice to the climate crisis. New York: Mariner Books.
Reynolds, E. (2023). Drawn to change the world: 16 youth climate activists, 16 artists. New York: HarperAlley.
Ritchie, H. (2024). Not the end of the world: How we can be the first generation to build a sustainable planet. New York: Little, Brown Spark.
Rusch, E. (2023). The 21: the true story of the youth who sued the U.S. government over climate change. New York: Greenwillow Books.
Sanchez, A. (2023). The forest in the sea: Seaweed solutions to planetary problems. New York: Holiday House.
Thunberg, G. (2023). The climate book. New York: Penguin Press.
Vitkus, J. (2022). Crafting change: Handmade activism, past and present. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
Wenjen, M. (2023). Food for the future: Sustainable farms around the world. Illus. R. Sae-Heng. Concord, MA: Barefoot Books.