Generation Brave

September 1, 2020

Gr 7 Up-Alexander highlights individuals and groups who are working to improve the world. Each entry includes a full-page portrait, three pages of detailed information, and social media handles. Orlando's beautiful watercolor illustrations appear on every page, enhancing the text with protest signs, additional portraits, and other visual cues. The spotlighted activists are based around the globe, with diverse racial and economic backgrounds, causes, and experiences. Many books have been published in the last few years that celebrate the work of various historical and modern figures, but the focus on Gen Z activists, as well as the informative profiles, makes this book stand out. VERDICT This appealing and detailed resource will introduce readers to the young people who are making a difference in the modern era. An excellent starting point for students working on biography projects or those who want to learn more about how kids and teens can get involved in the causes that are important to them.-Madison Bishop, Forbes Lib., Northampton, MA

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2020
More than two dozen individual and collective profiles sing the praises of young activists in the U.S. along with a handful from around the world. Well-known activists like Greta Thunberg and the Parkland Survivors join names worthy of more recognition, like menstrual equality campaigner and author Nadya Okamoto and transgender activist Sage Grace Dolan-Sandrino, in this collection of short biographies. Each four-page treatment features a bold, bright portrait and enthusiastic text exhorting readers to take action in areas that matter to them. The subjects all belong to Generation Z, people between the ages of 12 and 22, and the work of those like gun reform advocate Thandiwe Abdullah and Helena Gualinga (Kichwa), who rallies people to protect Indigenous rights and fight climate change, makes for inspiring reading, especially alongside well-chosen quotes from the subjects themselves. The group is diverse in race and sexuality, though the narrative assumes a White middle-class reader with ready internet access, directly addressed as someone who finds it easy to take their rights for granted. It's refreshing to see corporate actions blamed for climate change instead of individual choices--but frustrating that a facing paragraph then recommends only individual, not collective, responses. One chapter discusses mental illness, but physical disability is notably missing. The absence of Mari Copeny, Little Miss Flint, is jarring considering the paragraphs spent on Jaden Smith's activism for Flint. A hopeful call to action. (about the author and illustrator) (Nonfiction. 12-16)

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August 1, 2020
Grades 6-9 Gen Z, young people 12 to 22 years old, says Alexander's (The House of Hope, 1992; Paths of Peace, 1984) introduction, has spoken up bravely and successfully against issues they didn't create. The author profiles 27 such individuals and groups in chapters on Challenging the System, Creating a Safer World, Stopping the Clock on Climate Change, Lifting Each Other Up, and Taking Care of Each Other. The third-person essays within are sprinkled with quotes and colorful watercolor images of activists such as Greta Thunberg; the survivors of the Parkland school shooting; the students of IntegrateNYC, who work toward school desegregation; and Autumn Peltier, chief water commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation. The essays helpfully describe when one activist was inspired by another and include sidebars that put the person's work in historical context. What inspired the activism, important moments in the fight, and helpful actions that readers can take are all included. There's a wealth of inspiration here, and with a wide variety of topics and causes, teens interested in change of all kinds will likely find something of interest here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)