July 1, 2022
A young person learns how to turn eco-anxiety into action. Seventh grader Haven has climate change anxiety. Symptoms include doomscrolling, nail-biting, nightmares, and difficulty concentrating. Afraid of being seen as overly sensitive and emotional, Haven keeps her fears private. One spring day, she has a panic attack and runs out of science class while watching a video of melting glaciers in Antarctica. Motivated by her anxiety, Haven starts talking about environmental issues with her friends, family, and teachers. When Haven and her classmates begin studying the local Belmont River, they discover the water is acidic. Haven rallies her community to advocate for an investigation into who's polluting the river. What happened to the frogs? Is Gemba, the new glass factory that recently came to their town, involved in the contamination? Will Haven face her fears and speak out in public against climate change? Her desire to get to the bottom of the story is complicated by the fact that her father, who was unemployed for over two years, now works at Gemba, and the company is infusing money into the community. Dee explores the growing pains of a thoughtful and aware tween navigating everything from large-scale matters to jealousy to crushes. Her timely middle-grade novel is a sound character study with a conventional activism arc. Haven and her family are assumed White; the supporting cast is racially diverse. A powerful depiction of the impact of climate change on a young activist's mental health. (Fiction. 8-12)
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October 3, 2022
For sensitive seventh grader Haven, “things counted only when I knew how they added up, or how they ended.” So when her science teacher shows the class a video detailing the impact of climate change on Antarctic glaciers, Haven can’t stop thinking about the global crisis; gripped by nightmares and eco-anxiety, she becomes desperate to help. Drawing inspiration from a Martin Luther King Jr. quote about doing “small things in a great way,” Haven advocates an investigation of changes to the town river, which a school science project reveals is newly acidic. As Haven wrestles with big issues, she also struggles with the social challenges of middle school, including changing friendships. A new company in town, which employs Haven’s father and has recently revitalized the community, contributes nuance to a plot about environmental and social ethics. Though Dee (Violets Are Blue) offers no easy answers about how an individual can make a significant impact, Haven’s endeavors are earnestly wrought, and her compassionate heart and interpersonal conflicts balance the book’s environmental thrust. Ages 9–13. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary.
November 1, 2022
Gr 4-8-Middle grade author and tough topics expert Dee returns with a thought-provoking look at the very prevalent, but little known, issue of eco-anxiety and how it is affecting our youth. Seventh grader Haven Jacobs lives in the small town of Belmont with her family, and while she is hypersensitive worrying about climate change, she thinks she is alone in her thoughts. When her science teacher Mr. Hendricks announces the annual River Project to study the local Belmont River, Haven is excited to further the research that is compared and reported yearly. However, when Haven and her classmates find the river vastly changed from just two years ago (when her brother, Carter, did the project), Haven's anxiety ramps up. The water has become more acidic, there are no more frogs, and Haven worries that Gemba, the new factory in town, could be to blame. Haven's father works at Gemba, and Haven worries about what she suspects, as it may jeopardize her father as well as her friendship with Kenji, the son of the man running the company. Haven wants to make a difference for the planet, but feels her efforts can matter little. VERDICT Dee has deftly brought the important topic of eco-anxiety to the fore, while developing a wonderful story about juggling normal middle school worries such as friendships, crushes, and sibling issues.-Michele Shaw
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