Get Real: What Kind of World are YOU Buying? - Softcover

When she’s not spreading dangerous ideas, Mara Rockliff can be spotted loading up on books at her town library, biking to a nearby farm for fresh ingredients for homemade ice cream, or fixing yet another mug of fair trade tea. In real life, she lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her family.

Gr 6 Up–Rockliff outlines how mass consumerism is harming our planet, and specifically how teens can use their purchasing power to enact change. She cites examples of products that teens use frequently (high-tech electronics, clothing, junk food, etc.) and explains how their production often harms the people who make them, the environment, and, potentially, the end consumer. She explains that a chocolate bar was most likely made with cacao beans harvested by exploited workers, and that a cell phone contains enough heavy metals to seriously harm our groundwater. She covers (un)fair labor practices, environmental pillaging, factory farming, excessive marketing, local vs. corporate stores, and the pervasive throwaway mentality that drives the whole cycle. The author's in-your-face approach makes her points while still engaging readers–she is never didactic or overbearing. She encourages teens to make a difference in their world by making small changes to things they do already–buying fair-trade chocolate or saving up for an organic cotton T-shirt. The pop-art illustrations are clever and illustrative of many points. The impressive bibliography provides lists of documentaries, websites, books, articles, and other sources to help teens find out how their favorite products came to be (and came to be so cheap). Learning more about how these products are made just might make some teens think twice about their buying habits.Lisa Crandall, formerly at Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI
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