Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet

When fifth-grade teacher and climate advocate Lisa Kroll read this book aloud in installments to her students, she told me with amazement, “the whole class would cheer happily at read-aloud time.” Indeed, I missed reviewing this excellent book for this column last year because my own tween had squirreled it away, reading and re-reading the story of how middle-schooler Haven leverages local environmental activism to reframe her intense eco-anxiety. The plot is not tied up so tidily, however, and Haven must navigate very real-world complexities as she and her friends begin to investigate why the water in her local river has become so acidic. Is it due to the large factory in town, where her dad has started working? How can Haven and her friends adjust their claims to better fit their evidence? How can young people overcome complex challenges to make change in their communities? Haven’s ecological and social-emotional learning journeys are both treated in a way that respects the intelligence of the book’s young readers while remaining highly accessible.