Barely digestible.
What adjustments in attitudes, practices, and technology might end world hunger and slow climate change?
The introduction begins with a strong quotation from members of the World Economic Forum, warning of the challenge of providing enough nutritious food to a burgeoning world population without destroying the planet. After defining food security and positing that world food production must double by 2050 to meet dietary needs and tastes, the text assures readers that people and practices will very likely meet the challenges successfully, aided by the scientific community. Similar banal statements show up in the five short chapters, which contain quotations from a variety of people who have some professional connection with food. The result is an uneven read leading more to glazed eyes than whetted appetites—and a downplayed urgency around real concerns that is more fit for younger readers. However, browsers can find many topics for further research, including aquaculture, vegetarian burgers, cricket chips, and the emerging science of nutrigenomics. The choice of which topics to emphasize seems arbitrary: A full sidebar highlights an unsupported claim that Asian fish farmers fed feces to tilapia. The final chapter is reminiscent of futuristic claims from the 1950s—and ignores lifestyle and income disparity—as it asserts that an upcoming, better way of life will include kitchen robots, 3-D food printers, and smartphones that signal if meat has spoiled. A variety of full-color photographs elevate the work.
Barely digestible. (source notes, further reading, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68282-927-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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