You Can Be an Activist: How to Use Your Strengths and Passions to Make a Difference

Gr 4-6–This comprehensive guide will empower all kids to turn their frustrations with injustice into action. Through colorful graphics, easy-to-comprehend charts, and informational sections, Rocha and Leatherdale take typically complex information and break it down into a middle grade-friendly format. Pulling from her experience as a youth activist, Rocha combines personal experience with brief interviews from other young activists to encourage readers that they can make a difference. The coauthors write from a place that uplifts kids and asserts that their ideas and their lived experiences matter. The undertone of the book is not only that readers should become activists to work toward a better planet, but they should also become activists because what they do and who they are is important. By naming typical self-sabotaging rhetoric (e.g., “I’m not a public speaker,” “I don’t have a large following,” “I’m just one kid”), Rocha and Leatherdale are able to proactively remind all young people that anyone is capable of being an activist. Throughout, there are invaluable resources: guidance on finding reliable information, public speaking, letter and email templates, networking advice, self-care tips, and more. Back matter includes web resources, glossary, and an index.