Challenge Everything: An Extinction Rebellion Youth guide to saving the planet

By Author / Illustrator

Blue Sandford, Extinction Rebellion

Genre

Environment

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Pavilion Books

ISBN

9781843654643

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

06-08-2020

Synopsis

Challenge Everything. Act Now. Change the World. This book will show you how.

Blue Sandford was named by The Times as one of \"Britain's Greta Thunbergs\" (Dec 2019)

The main concern of young people is climate change and how to combat it. This book, the only official handbook from Extinction Rebellion Youth, will help you to change your life and change the world for the better. Written by a founder member of Extinction Rebellion Youth London, this is no greenwashing book - it's an important call to action. A manifesto to show young people how to save the planet by questioning modern life.

This book asks you to challenge everything - challenge government (protest and take peaceful action where necessary), challenge business (decide who you want to support, decide who you want to boycott), and above all to challenge yourself - how can you change your life to make a difference. Filled with stories, essays, slogans and inspiring illustrations, this book covers consuming, actioning, boycotting, campaigning, striking, questioning, rewilding and reconnecting with our planet.

Reviews

Challenge Everything - An Extinction Rebellion Youth Guide to saving the planet is written by the young activist Blue Sandford. She was named by The Times as a 'British Greta Thunberg' and one of the UK's most impressive youth activists. It is the only official youth handbook from Extinction Rebellion and asks of its reader to 'challenge everything'. It is a call to young people to take action against the climate crisis. Sandford's book sets out to encourage and inspire other teens and young adults to make their voices heard.

I really liked that it was set out in easy to dip into sections and clearly signposts the reader to the topic of their choice. Within each section, Blue has written stories, essays and slogans around each topic. She has filled the book with facts about how our everyday lives are impacting on the planet and the alternative steps that we can all take to help against the climate crisis. From fast fashion, to how we use and buy make up, to flying on holiday, Blue clearly tells the reader how we need to stop and think about how our actions are impacting on the planet and how as individuals we can all contribute and make a difference.

The book is also a guide to how young people can take direct action against big business and governments. She guides the reader into how to start petitions, how to join like minded people and how to plan and participate in direct action. She also imparts to the reader the importance of the right to vote. I also really liked that she has incorporated in each of the main sections of the book an opportunity for readers to write down their own thoughts and feelings whilst giving them an opportunity to reflect on how they can actively make a difference.

Sandford's narrative voice is passionate and on every page, her commitment for all of us to work together to challenge the climate crisis is very clear. This book has the capacity to really make the reader think about how we all live and how the future of the planet is in all of our hands.

144 pages / Reviewed by Julie Broadbent, school librarian