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A review by whitneymouse
Rebel Girls Climate Warriors: 25 Tales of Women Who Protect The Earth by Rebel Girls
4.0
**Thank you to Netgalley and Rebel Girls for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed my rating**
The first time I read this series was the last entry, which was the Black Girl Magic edition of Rebel Girls. Since reading it, I have recommended this series at my library job multiple times, so I was excited to see a new one was coming! Once again, very high quality content from this series.
This edition features 25 women who in some way have influenced Climate Change. To start with, I was SUPER impressed that 15/25 of the women featured were BIPOC. That means almost 60% of the women featured were BIPOC and I'm very excited for young girls, but especially girls of color, to see themselves in roles where they can impact the environment. I also learned new things from this title. Did you know that underwater kelp keeps 20x more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than land forests? This was new information to me! So even adults can learn from this book.
I will be honest in saying I think some of them do or did more than others. I'm still a little unclear on Margaret Atwood's inclusion. I don't know what series they're referencing that she's known for. I think she's MOST known for The Handmaid's Tale, which isn't about climate change or the environment. I also am a little on the fence about the impact of Jamie Margolin and Zero Hour. The book says they marched to ask the U.S. government to "stop giving money to the fossil fuel industry or accepting donations from businesses that are destroying the planet." (unfinished ARC copy, page 26). As far as I can tell, this has not happened, at least not in the U.S. Many politicians still accept large donations from and lobby for the interests of oil and coal companies, as well as try to strip the government agencies that work for environmental protection of key powers that allow it to make our earth greener and sustainable. While it's great she got a lot of kids to care about the environment, their site doesn't look like they've really done anything since 2018? I'm just very confused about what the actual impact was.
That said, I think there are many environmentalists people may not have heard of before that have made significant changes, such as Kotchakorn Voraakhom, who designed a park that collected rain water for city use and helped her city to live with floods. Kristal Ambrose was another one I enjoyed, who helped to create a bill that would ban the use of single-use plastics in her home country and got it passed. Nemonte Nenquimo, Lucy King, Danni Washington, Autumn Peltier, and Angelina Arora were other bios that I enjoyed. There is a large amount of impact between these women and a vast array of different ways they've helped.
The last thing I'd add is that the book ends with activities or ways that kids can be more green. While I think this is important and I also do many of these things personally, such as carrying a backpack, eating leftovers, and using a reusable water bottle, I also know that the personal efforts we carry out over our lifetime are wiped out in a few seconds by bored and selfish billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk with their ridiculous space race. I understand why they don't include that in the book because it's disheartening and might make some kids ask "so why bother", but I think it makes it a little disingenuous to suggest if EVERYONE does their part, that will negate it and also robs children of the chance to try different avenues of change by lobbying for wealth reform or trying to get these billionaires to commit to greener efforts through their businesses and personal hobbies. It's going to take a lot more than a reusable water bottle, unfortunately.
That said, I think this is a great addition to the series and will likely inspire a new generation of marine biologists, scientists, activists, fashion designers, environmentalists, and more. I will definitely recommend this title to children in the library or to friends of mine who are parents.
The first time I read this series was the last entry, which was the Black Girl Magic edition of Rebel Girls. Since reading it, I have recommended this series at my library job multiple times, so I was excited to see a new one was coming! Once again, very high quality content from this series.
This edition features 25 women who in some way have influenced Climate Change. To start with, I was SUPER impressed that 15/25 of the women featured were BIPOC. That means almost 60% of the women featured were BIPOC and I'm very excited for young girls, but especially girls of color, to see themselves in roles where they can impact the environment. I also learned new things from this title. Did you know that underwater kelp keeps 20x more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere than land forests? This was new information to me! So even adults can learn from this book.
I will be honest in saying I think some of them do or did more than others. I'm still a little unclear on Margaret Atwood's inclusion. I don't know what series they're referencing that she's known for. I think she's MOST known for The Handmaid's Tale, which isn't about climate change or the environment. I also am a little on the fence about the impact of Jamie Margolin and Zero Hour. The book says they marched to ask the U.S. government to "stop giving money to the fossil fuel industry or accepting donations from businesses that are destroying the planet." (unfinished ARC copy, page 26). As far as I can tell, this has not happened, at least not in the U.S. Many politicians still accept large donations from and lobby for the interests of oil and coal companies, as well as try to strip the government agencies that work for environmental protection of key powers that allow it to make our earth greener and sustainable. While it's great she got a lot of kids to care about the environment, their site doesn't look like they've really done anything since 2018? I'm just very confused about what the actual impact was.
That said, I think there are many environmentalists people may not have heard of before that have made significant changes, such as Kotchakorn Voraakhom, who designed a park that collected rain water for city use and helped her city to live with floods. Kristal Ambrose was another one I enjoyed, who helped to create a bill that would ban the use of single-use plastics in her home country and got it passed. Nemonte Nenquimo, Lucy King, Danni Washington, Autumn Peltier, and Angelina Arora were other bios that I enjoyed. There is a large amount of impact between these women and a vast array of different ways they've helped.
The last thing I'd add is that the book ends with activities or ways that kids can be more green. While I think this is important and I also do many of these things personally, such as carrying a backpack, eating leftovers, and using a reusable water bottle, I also know that the personal efforts we carry out over our lifetime are wiped out in a few seconds by bored and selfish billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk with their ridiculous space race. I understand why they don't include that in the book because it's disheartening and might make some kids ask "so why bother", but I think it makes it a little disingenuous to suggest if EVERYONE does their part, that will negate it and also robs children of the chance to try different avenues of change by lobbying for wealth reform or trying to get these billionaires to commit to greener efforts through their businesses and personal hobbies. It's going to take a lot more than a reusable water bottle, unfortunately.
That said, I think this is a great addition to the series and will likely inspire a new generation of marine biologists, scientists, activists, fashion designers, environmentalists, and more. I will definitely recommend this title to children in the library or to friends of mine who are parents.