Fresh Air, Clean Water: Our Right to a Healthy Environment (Orca Think #4)

by Megan Clendenan (Author) Julie McLaughlin (Illustrator)

Fresh Air, Clean Water: Our Right to a Healthy Environment (Orca Think #4)
Reading Level: 6th − 7th Grade
Series: Orca Think

Everyone depends on clean air to breathe, safe water to drink and healthy soil for growing food. But what if your drinking water is dangerous, your air is polluted and your soil is toxic?

What can you do about that? Do you have the right to demand change?

Fresh Air, Clean Water: Defending Our Right to a Healthy Environment explores the connections between our environment and our health, and why the right to live in a healthy environment should be protected as a human right. The book features profiles of kids around the world who are taking action and important environmental rights court cases. Hear the powerful stories of those fighting for change.

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Hardcover
$24.95

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Kirkus

A forceful and informative handbook on environmental justice, accessible enough to strike a chord with young readers.

ALA/Booklist

A worthy purchase where readers enjoy a personal approach to science instruction.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7--With a tone that is eager to share serious information without terrifying readers, this book provides the necessary background and inspiration to spur upper elementary-age children to environmental action. Bite-size chunks of text, a multitude of photographs, and occasional full-color illustrations lay out the imperatives of clean air, fresh water, and healthy soil for all life on Earth. An overview of how the development of farming and then industry have led to climate change sets the stage for discussion of how intertwined human rights and climate justice have become. The author explains how courts, laws, and provisions in national constitutions have been used to deter further threats to nature, and, by extension, to humankind. Inspiring case studies of citizen action, frequently led by young people, demonstrate a variety of approaches to environmental activism. VERDICT Richly supported with stories and "You Be the Judge" sidebars that illustrate the challenging choices in fighting for environmental rights, this thought-provoking book offers a solid foundation for further exploration of the topic.--Jan Aldrich Solow

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"Packed full of detail about historical political and governmental positions regarding our world; and yes, we all have a stake in this topic."— "School Library Connection"
Megan Clendenan

Megan Clendenan enjoys learning about how people ate throughout history and hopes that the foods of the future will be more sustainable and just. She is the author of Cities: How Humans Live Together and the Green Earth Award winner Fresh Air, Clean Water: Our Right to a Healthy Environment. She is a co-author of Design Like Nature: Biomimicry for a Healthy Planet, part of the Orca Footprints series. Megan lives near Vancouver, British Columbia, with her family, where she likes growing vegetables in her backyard.

Meegan Lim is an illustrator and arts facilitator striving to nurture community growth and healing through visual arts. She holds a bachelor of design and illustration from OCAD University. Her work primarily focuses on the intersections of food and cultural identity, manifesting through detailed gouache illustrations, digital paintings and risograph zines. Her illustrations have been featured in Chatelaine, Eater, Broken Pencil Magazine and the book What We Talk About When We Talk About Dumplings. Meegan lives in Brampton, Ontario.

Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781459826793
Lexile Measure
1100
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Orca Book Publishers
Publication date
March 15, 2022
Series
Orca Think
BISAC categories
JNF051100 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Environmental Science & Ecosystems
JNF037020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Science & Nature | Environmental Conservation & Protection
JNF065000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Recycling & Green Living
JNF071000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Social Activism & Volunteering
Library of Congress categories
Environmentalism
Citizen participation
Children and the environment
Environmental health
Human rights advocacy

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