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Book Birthday: Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet by Barbara Dee
Happy Book Birthday to Barbara Dee, one of my favorite go-to middle grade authors.
Why do I love Barbara’s books? Because of her voice, well, two kinds of voices really. The first voice is her middle grade voice. I teach this age group and I feel like they are writing this book. Barbara makes her characters come alive and they are believable. The other voice is her voice for change. All of her books touch on important topics both for middle schoolers and for the world.
Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet is a book about climate change, anxiety, family, and friendship. Haven experiences serious anxiety when thinking about all that is wrong with the world, especially when she discovers some important changes in the ecosystem in her own town. How does one “fix” climate change when it is all out of your control? This is the question Haven faces and watching her journey to figure out the answer makes this a great story. I hope you read it!
When Haven’s social studies teacher urges her to find a specific, manageable way to make a difference to the planet, Haven focuses on the annual science class project at the local Belmont River, where her class will take samples of the water to analyze. Students have been doing the project for years, and her older brother tells her that his favorite part was studying and catching frogs.
But when Haven and her classmates get to the river, there’s no sign of frogs or other wildlife—but there is ample evidence of pollution. The only thing that’s changed by the river is the opening of Gemba, the new factory where Haven’s dad works. It doesn’t take much investigation before Haven is convinced Gemba is behind the slow pollution of the river.
She’s determined to expose Gemba and force them to clean up their act. But when it becomes clear taking action might put her dad’s job—and some friendships—in jeopardy, Haven must decide how far she’s willing to go. –Goodreads
Welcome to the world Haven!
Thank you Media Masters Publicity for sharing this book with me.
