This is an interesting read. The concept of "greening the world's cities" incorporates creating "living walls" and vertical farms to promote healthier places to live and work. This text is great for a discussion on urban planning and the need to make parks and green spaces (on the ground) a must part of any city development. Ideal for discussing the practicality, effort and issues of the use of chemicals and insecticides in effort to maintain the living walls.

The concept, title, and cover of this book really drew me in. The visuals within are excellent for conveying the idea of enmeshing plant life with urban life. It is nice to see a book filled with hope for the future that acknowledges hard path ahead of us, especially how gentrification impacts people who already live in the city. The glossary in the back is helpful for ecological terms that readers may not be familiar with.

At the same time, the narrative holds us, as humans accountable--which is completely fair--without condemning the acts of large corporations who contribute to an obscene amount of the damage, or create suburban sprawl which contributes to a major portion of car usage (e.g., using Greta Thunberg as inspiration when she, herself, has said she shouldn't have to speak out, since she is a child). Of course, the scope of the book is largely that of creating green buildings, but this could have been handled in the introduction.

What a terrific resource for teens-- and adults! In Buildings That Breathe, Nancy Castaldo explores the need for urban green spaces, showcasing innovative ways architects, designers, and scientists are incorporating trees and plants into buildings. Bosco Verticale, the "treescraper" in Milan designed by Stefano Boeri, is featured (great photos), along with information about climate change and related topics, the history of environmentalism, and the creative green projects being built in cities worldwide. This compact, accessible book offers inspiration and fascinating rabbit trails readers will want to follow. It's definitely going on our high school media center "to buy" list.