Valentia Giannella wants to inspire us to take action just like Greta has. Together we can work to save the world. Therefore she put together a book called We are All Greta. I took the time to read it back when I was really sick for a week. Today I take the time offer my review for you.
Who Is Greta?
Greta is a 16 year old girl from Sweden. She was an ordinary girl, enjoying life until she was 8. At that time she noticed her parents disliked waste of electricity, food and water. She learned about climate change and how it was affecting the planet. By 11 years old she became depressed and was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and selective mutism. She became very focused on climate change, so much so that she did a Ted Talk on the topic.
What I am Reviewing
We are all Greta: Be inspired to save the world, written by Valentina Giannella is 128 pages long, written with middle schoolers in mind. It is filled with infographics, charts, illustrations and treaties to encourage us to treat the world better in a variety of ways. 18 chapters round out We are Greta along with references and a bibliography.
The Details about We Are All Greta
18 chapters round out the pages of this stiff paperback book.
Chapter 1 tells us who Greta is and why we should care about her words.
Chapters 2-16 talk about different aspects of living the world and how they relate to climate change. Topics include such things as living in cities, fossil fuels, water, plastic and more. No specific action is suggested in these chapters.
Chapter 17 gives ideas about specific things a person can do.
Chapter 18 defines words and gives links to sites.
Pages that are coloured are ones that are encouraging action. Turning of lights and appliances you don’t need. Not replacing things if you don’t have to and other such advice.
Thoughts
We are all Greta is a thought-provoking book, guaranteed to get youth thinking about the world we live in and how to a thoughtful part of it. We do need to not be wasteful or thoughtless about what we do.
My problem with the book is this. I don’t believe in climate change. I just don’t. So when I read books like this an inner part of me scoffs at the poor science and the fear-mongering it provides. But that said, I appreciate books that work to create thinking individuals. People who can look at how to create sustainable agriculture with open eyes. Individuals who can better ways of handling the waste we produce… from reducing the amount we make to better utilizing the remains of society.
With that thought in mind, yes, please do read We are all Greta. Stop and think about what is being talked about. Then go read some opposing opinions. Do some indepth research. Come to your own conclusions. And think. Just think.
I agree that we are too short-sighted with history and records to be able to state that climate change is a thing, especially when we look back through that history. Greta is quite an individual, though, and she has done a good thing in making people think. Someone gave us a book of her speeches right before the holidays, along with the Time Magazine article on her. We haven’t gotten to it yet but we will.
I like the questions raised and it’s good to think on them, to see if there are ways we can do better.