Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet by Barbara Dee

 

Seventh grader Haven Jacobs is a worrier. And right now she's worried about planet earth and what's happening to it because of climate change. She's kept her thoughts to herself, right up until her science teacher Mr. Hendricks showed a film about how climate change was causing the Antarctic glaciers to being melting. After all, what would happen to the penguins if they lost their icy home? This all leads to a full on panic attack, and Haven can no longer hide her fears from her family and friends and frequently finds herself falling down the internet rabbit hole researching articles and videos about what climate change is doing to the world.

All these worries come to head when Mr. Hendricks announces their class project to study the local Belmont River. This is a project he does every year with his class. In fact, two years before Haven's brother Carter was in his class, and he tells her about all the frogs that were there. But when Haven and her class arrive at the river, not only are there no frogs, but there are not even pollution sensitive macros to be found, only macros that can tolerate pollution. 

At the same time, there is a new boy in Haven's class named Kenji, whose father is in charge of the new glass factory, Gemba, where Haven's father finally got a job after being jobless for two years. Her best friend Riley has a crush on Kenji and is also hanging out with another girl more that with Haven. And why isn't her oldest friend Archer speaking to her in person, only texting about the video game he's playing. Haven's life is beginning to get really complicated, and skipping social studies and not doing her homework doesn't help.

The results of the Belmont River project shows that this year it is indeed polluted, and Haven feels like she needs to do something to make a difference in the world, even if it is only cleaning up the river and finding out who is polluting it. With the help of Mr. Hendricks, Ms. Packer, her social studies teacher, her friends and family, a big river clean-up is organized. There's food, fun, and games, and people do volunteer to do river cleanup, and it feels like it is a success. But in the end, Haven realizes they have only contributed to pollution, and not made much of a difference at all. Is there anything Haven can do to have a impact on climate change?

One of the things about a Barbara Dee novel is that as soon as you begin reading, you are quickly pulled into the story and it's easy to continue to the end in one sitting and Haven's story is no different. Haven is an interesting protagonist, and you can really feel her anxiety and her need to do something. I imagine there are lots of kids today who have some degree of eco-anxiety and who will relate to Haven's feelings and her attempts to make a difference on a small scale. Haven's parents are concerned about her and after finding about what's going on in social studies, suggest she see a therapist, who does help her focus more. 

One of the other things I liked about this book is that the adults are presented in a positive, supportive and involved way, with the exception of Kenji's father. It was also nice to see Haven's relationship with her brother change amd mature over the course of the book. And for the most part Haven's friends are also supportive, although she has a hard time liking one of them, Em, until she learns her story. Even so, Em gives Haven an interesting way to help her control nail biting. 

Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet is an inspiring novel that should appeal to middle graders concerned about climate change and show hem that not everyone needs to be a Greta Thunberg to make a difference. 

I haven't done a MMGM in a long time and it's good to be back. You can see all of this week's wonderful MMGM books thanks to Greg at Always in the Middle

The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World's Coral Reefs by Kate Messner, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe

When Ken Nedimeyer was a boy, his father's job at NASA meant living in Florida, and, for Ken, that meant exploring the ocean.

Influenced by underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau, Ken learned how to scuba dive and as he swam around the ocean, observing the world of fish and sea stars, he also began noticing the beautiful coral reefs in the Florida Keys.

Made up of countless tiny sea creatures, Ken found them to be just beautiful, and wanted to know everything about them - how the reefs grew so large, why they were different colors and shapes.

But, one hot summer, Ken noticed that the reefs were beginning to lose their color, and the sea urchins, who made sure algae did overtake the coral reefs, were beginning to die, and consequently, so were the massive coral reefs. But Ken just didn't know what to do for the dying reefs.

'The reefs of the Florida Keys teemed with life."

As an adult, Ken operated a rock farm in the Florida Keys, growing rocks full of sea life to help keep the ocean water safe and healthy for the other forms of sea life. One day, a coral colony spawned and attached itself to one of Ken's rock on his farm. And it grew! So Ken and his daughter began attaching corals onto other rocks and they also grew.

If you could grow corals on rocks, Ken wondered, could you transplant them onto a dying reef? Ken decided to test out this theory. Ken founded a group called the Coral Restoration Foundation, staffed by volunteers. As the corals grew, the volunteers transplanted these coral colonies, attaching them (with glue) in places on the reefs where they hoped the corals would take hold and flourish.

Did the transplanted corals survive? Yes, they did and now Ken's group travels around the world, teaching others how to grow and transplant healthy corals in order to save their dying corals.

Messner begins and ends the The Brilliant Deep with one tiny coral spawn and how it can grow into a new colony. And what feels to be a simple story in between is in actuality a wonderful lesson about ocean life. Readers learns how coral reefs are formed, why they are important to the not just the ocean's environment, but also to ours, and that sometimes, it takes just one person with an idea to make a difference.

The Brilliant Deep has been a favorite of my young readers right from the beginning. Not only is it interesting and informative, it is also quite beautifully illustrated. Forsythe's colorful, batik-style, gouache and watercolor washed illustrations are done in a watery pastel palette of mainly blues, greens. and sunny yellows give the perfect effect needed for a book about the ocean and its colorful reefs.

"It starts with one."

Messner cleverly brings the story of coral reefs and the story of Ken Nedimeyer full circle with to a satisfying ending that connects them back to the beginning of the book - spawns to coral reefs, a young boy to the man he became. She also includes more information about coral reefs in the back matter, including ways kids can help, online ways to explore attempts to save the coral reefs, and vocabulary words used through the book.

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was sent to me by the publisher, Chronicle Books