Review of Earthgirl

I love to read and because I am a middle school teacher I read a lot of young adult literature as well. The other day I was at the library and spied a book called earthgirl by Jennifer Cowan in the teen’s section. I picked it up and put it in my bag to check out. The book was about an average girl who becomes more environmentally aware after she is covered by fast food waste flung out of an SUV while riding her bike.

The protagonist Sabine goes from a typical shopaholic working at Gap to an eco-warrior with a job at an organic food co-op. She struggles to get her friends and family to follow suit with little success and ends up making some new friends including an eco-conscious hottie named Vray Foret.

The book is written partly as a blog and her story involves other forms of technology and communication such as YouTube. The events seem plausible and the characters are realistic. The book is written for teenagers and deals with sensitive topics like sex, drugs and alcohol so I recommend it for high schoolers. However, I don’t believe in censoring any books to kids if they choose to read! I think most green teenagers would enjoy this book, but it is geared more towards girls.

This book brings up a lot of eco-friendly topics such as recycling, the “cult of consumerism”, gas guzzlers, drilling in the Arctic as well as a teenager’s view of activism. It is a must-read for a burgeoning greenie teen, but it also provides interesting insight for parents as well.