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Reviewed by: Heather Maneiro, High School Librarian Title: Two Degrees Author: Alan Gratz Publisher: Scholastic Press
Year: 2022 Good for Grades: 5-8 Genre/Type of Book: Adventure, Realistic Fiction
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: death, extreme danger Recommended for a school library: Yes Reason(s) for choosing the book: 2024/2025 Battle of the Books (BOB) Selection If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: Four young people prove that you don't have to be an adult to survive or make a difference. |
Review:
In situations that would try Keanu Reeves, Sigourney Weaver, and Dwayne Johnson, four young people are fighting for their lives. Unfortunately for us, this is not science fiction. Climate change is real and causing disasters across the globe. Alan Gratz, inspired by many of these true stories, has fictionalized some of these accounts bringing us three stories of climate change: a wildfire, a hurricane, and polar bear habitat destruction.
Akira and her father are out for their Saturday ride in the forest when overcome by a forest fire. Akira and her climate-change denying father are separated and Akira must count on her house, his instincts, and her first-aid-training to survive.
Natalie has dreams of becoming a meteorologist after the impact of the last hurricane. She keeps her eyes out for The Big One, but once it arrives, she realizes that the time to do something about climate change is now.
Owen and George are a present day Abbott and Costello, using humor and wit to get the best tips as they tell the tourists all about polar bears. They giggle about ice farts and peek-a-boo with the polar bears, but when they get caught in a cat in mouse game with Nanuk, they too realize the true impact of climate change.
The four young protagonists prove that you don’t have to be an adult to survive. More importantly, they show us you do not need to be an adult to make a difference.
A must-have for middle school collections.
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