Heroes of the Environment: True Stories of People Who Are Helping to Protect Our Planet (Nature Books for Kids, Science for Kids, Envirnonmental Science for Kids)

This inspiring book presents the true stories of 12 people from across North America who have done great things for the environment. Heroes include a teenage girl who figured out how to remove an industrial pollutant from the Ohio River, a Mexican superstar wrestler who works to protect turtles and whales, and a teenage boy from Rhode Island who helped his community and his state develop effective e-waste recycling programs. Plenty of photographs and illustrations bring each compelling story vividly to life. VOYA Students might ask what they can do about environmental problems, or they could assume that there is nothing that one teenager can do about overwhelming problems. This inspiring little gem is packed with stories about people who are concerned about the environment and have followed through with action that will thrill readers young and old. The stories of the carefully selected heroes range from a female solar electrician for the Hopi Indian Reservation to an engineer and designer who invented an eco-system to clean toilet water at a school. A young entrepreneur developed a business to grow food in inner-city Milwaukee, while another recycled building materials in the South Bronx. An Appalachian grandmother challenged harmful practices in mountaintop removal. One teenager's research resulted in a patent for a system to treat household drinking water, and another spent years working to protect California's coastline. A wrestler from Mexico activated students to prevent pollution of the lagoon in Tijuana. A middle school teacher from Louisiana inspired his students to protect the wetlands near New Orleans. This book provides stories of dedicated activists rather than a political or scientific discussion of environmental problems. It is marketed for readers age seven through fourteen, but it should be available to high school students and teachers for science, social studies, or pleasure reading. One can only hope that students will feel empowered by these success stories. Reviewer: Marilyn Brien This inspiring book presents the true stories of 12 people, most of them teenagers or younger adults, from across North America who have done great things for the environment. Heroes include a teenage girl who figured out how to remove an industrial pollutant from the Ohio River, a Mexican superstar wrestler who works to protect turtles and whales, and a teenage boy from Rhode Island who helped his community and his state develop effective e-waste recycling programs. Plenty of photographs and illustrations bring each compelling story vividly to life