EARTH DAY AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT by Christy Peterson is subtitled "Standing Up for Earth" and it contains important lessons for our students. There is certainly high interest in this topic by our students and their entire generation. The publisher, Lerner, has provided a concise, easy to read text filled with helpful maps and graphs, as is typical of their non-fiction work. This title is probably best suited to middle school and early high school, although we have ordered a copy to provide some basic background for interested students. For many, it will help to compare and contrast the environmental movement’s origins (sections on Love Canal, etc.) with today’s concerns.

I grew up in what one might call the recycling era. My first superhero was Captain Planet. We were hyper-focused on litter. So I never really considered what prompted Earth Day to begin with. It's interesting to learn just how polluted most places were historically. In the modern era, with our serious concerns about climate change, affecting change can feel insurmountable. This book shows us how far we've come. While it's not enough, knowing we can make a difference may be enough to keep a young person from giving up on our environment. There was a lot of information I had not ever heard before. One I'd easily recommend.