Summer We Turned Green


Publication Date: 28 Sep. 2021
Format: Paperback / softback

ISBN 9781526632852

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    It's the summer holidays, and thirteen-year-old Luke has just had his life turned upside down. First his older sister Rose moved 'across the road' where a community of climate rebels are protesting the planned airport expansion and now his dad's gone too. Dad only went to get Rose back, but he's out there building totem poles out of old furniture and wearing sandals and drinking mead (whatever that is) with the best of them -

    Luke is determined to save his dad, his sister AND his summer. So how does he find himself at the top of a tree refusing to leave until the bulldozers stand down?
    A fresh, funny, heartfelt look at this generation's must-win battle- one earth, one chance.

    Information

    Book Type: Junior Chapter
    Age Group: 10 years +
    Traffic Lights: Amber
    Class Novel: Yes
    Good Reads Rating: 5/5
    Literary Rating: 4.5/5

    Review

    The houses across the street from 13-year-old Luke's house have been empty since the residents were forced to vacate. A bypass is in development on the way to a new airport. The residents on the street have been protesting, with no success. Then a group of protestors moved into the house across from Luke's, attempting to slow the development by protesting via occupation. They believe that the bypass and the airport shouldn't be built due to the horrific impact on the environment.

    The street has reached an uneasy truce--neither the residents nor the protestors like or respect each other--when Luke's older sister Rose decides to move in with the protestors. After that, they're on the road to disaster.

    Luke's dad goes over to check the house out and try to make peace with Rose and ends up chatting to one of the older protestors and making friends. He takes time off work to hang around the house, causing conflict with Luke's mum--who feels he's not supporting their family. Eventually, he goes to a doctor and is put on medical leave since he seems to be going through a mental breakdown. He moves into the house across the street. Rose feels like he's butting in on something that was hers, so this causes the situation to deteriorate even further.

    Meanwhile, a child who lives across the road has started following Luke home. Sky is the daughter of one of the protestors, and she's lived an unmoored life with no consistency. She's homeschooled by the protestors--when they have time--and longs to go to an actual school and live in a real house instead of moving from protest camp to protest camp. Luke's mother tries to support her, feeding her, helping her with her schoolwork, and giving her a haircut. Sky's mother is furious, and tensions between the houses couldn't be worse.

    The situation reaches a breaking point when the development advances. The protestors and residents combine forces and make a plan to stop it once and for all. The protestors reach out to groups they've been affiliated with in the past, start a social media campaign, and gain media attention. They're helped by the fact that the families who live on the street are otherwise unaffiliated with climate change protest groups. Joining forces adds urgency and novelty to the movement, showing people that this is a problem that affects everyone.

    Sky and Luke have grown closer, and when during a protest they climb into a treehouse and refuse to come down, their friendship is solidified. The image of two children stuck in a tree--and the police refusing to allow any provisions to be sent up, in the hope of starving them out--is visceral. They speak to the media, and Luke's newfound passion for and knowledge of the climate crisis grabs global attention. He says that adults have no concept of what it's like knowing that they're going to inherit a world in ruins, and that it's past time to act.

    The protest is successful, and the protestors break up, moving on to different camps. Luke and Sky stay in touch--she and her mother settle into a permanent residence, and Sky goes to school while her mother studies nursing. Rose moves back home, but Luke's parents stay split up. A year after the protest, everyone has a street party to commemorate the event. Everyone's lives and perspectives were changed by the chance to work together for a common cause.

    Funny, empowering and grounded, this is a very enjoyable and worthwhile read. The overwhelming message is of cooperation and listening to outside perspectives, and the incredible power of community to change opinion. The message about climate change and activism comes through loud and clear: it's past time to take a stand. Everyone is responsible for the world we live in, and working together, we can change it.

    Themes

    climate change, environmentalism, protest, activism, collective, community, perspectives

    Content Notes

    1. Luke's dad mentions that he drank mead with the protestors (p. 32). Rose smokes a cigarette (p. 71). 2. shit x 1, arsehole x 2. 3. Scene of a protest with mild violence as police break up the crowd (p. 261). 4. Rose is dating one of the protestors, a boy called Space. The relationship has ended by the close of the book.

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