Girl Scouts: Take Action; You Can Make the World a Better Place

Gr 4-8–Girl Scouts has produced an amazing guide for youth on how to use their passion(s) to create change at the local level through planning and organizing. Nine chapters provide practical advice for planning, building a team, creating budgets and timelines, raising funds, exploring community resources, and using media. There is a focus on journaling to explore ideas, self-care, and celebration. Topics such as bias are explained clearly: “A bias is a belief or value system you hold in favor or against someone or something. Usually, that belief isn’t right or fair.” This is followed by examples of how bias impacts people and a reminder to check internal biases when helping others. Each chapter’s big idea is broken down into digestible bits with headings. Quizzes, journal prompts, examples of request letters and planning forms, simple explanations, and brief stories of youth activists’ success are highlighted in boxes. Sketches showing young girls of different backgrounds, along with animals and objects, are sprinkled throughout the text. The issues of setbacks, burnout, and conflict among team members are discussed with realistic advice. All the steps to find success are clearly laid out.