earthgirl by Jennifer Cowan

The New York Times - Regina Marler

…witty…I remember college friends discovering the animal rights movement; they described suddenly perceiving a layer of cruelty under everything around them. This is Sabine's awakening, subtly and thoroughly explored by the author. Sabine begins to realize the rippling social and ecological effects of her smallest choices: an exhilarating but exhausting process, during which she loses her two best friends.

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up

Extremely well researched and full of additional Web site links to further information, Earthgirl is something of a fiction to nonfiction crossover and is a wonderful read for any aspiring or devoted activist. When a careless driver throws her fast-food castoffs out of the window of her parked vehicle, nailing Sabine with it, the teen gets off her bicycle and lays into the woman with a full force of environmental fury. Where this rage comes from Sabine is unsure. The video of her arguing with the driver soon appears on YouTube, courtesy of one of her friends, and Sabine quickly embraces her revived outlook on the state of the planet. Starting a blog, she develops something of a following as she discusses various environmental issues and conundrums. She meets Vray, a dedicated environmentalist with whom she begins an intense intimate relationship and becomes engaged in heightened eco-warrior actions. Switching between first-person narrative and Sabine's blog entries, the book gives insights into the teen's development from two slightly different angles. Her personality comes across well and her voice is a true reflection of a 16-year-old at a time of life when change is coming from every quarter. Curriculum links could easily be made with the conflict between the development of the individual versus the pressure of peers that is evident throughout the book.-Dylan Thomarie, Johnstown High School, NY

Kirkus Reviews

After a minivan driver throws "the debris of her McFatty meal" at Sabine Solomon and their ensuing confrontation is captured on YouTube, the Toronto 16-year-old Gap employee and pseudo-Prada shopper with her "grrlz" joins the eco-evolution. Her edgy, conversational first-person narration and thought-provoking "earthgirl" blog (with actual statistics and links to environmental and anti-consumerism websites) describe her entree into working at an organic food co-op, becoming a vegetarian, organizing a clean-up day and other modes of social awareness. While her friends and parents are more annoyed than enlightened by her transformation, Sabine finds support in self-named Vray (a variant of "truth" in French), a charming musician and eco-warrior. New to activism, love and sex, she finds that all can be rewarding, misunderstood and complicated. And when asked to cross an uncomfortable line in the name of saving the planet, Sabine realizes that real change starts with oneself. This sharp debut novel with enormous teen appeal will inspire readers to question Sabine's tactics and their own impact on the earth. (Fiction. YA)

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