Reviewed by
Kathleen Grace
Alice Boghosian is
a Year 6 student at Melwood Public School whose teacher Mrs Malouf has
allocated classmates assignments to write to someone who is a leader. She has allocated
environmental activist Greta Thunberg to Alice who would have preferred a
social media queen (with 22 media followers), the captain of her favourite netball
team, or Taylor Swift.
Thus, the book
takes the form of a series of emails Alice writes to Greta. At first, she outlines
her problems (for example, Jayden and his mates nickname her Bogus and Mothball),
her life, her family, her neighbours, her surroundings, and her annoying sister,
Annie. However, after a while, with research, she learns more about the activist.
Another of her heroes is Malala Yousafzai who campaigns for girls’ rights and
who is a winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace. She learns that Thunberg and Yousafzai
communicate with one another. She writes, ‘When I think about all the amazing girls,
you and Malala in particular, it seems like anything is possible’.
Alice’s continuing
emails, which show she is being influenced by Greta’s life and work, also show
she is becoming more aware of the possibility of using her time and energy to
devote to the community. She starts to believe that she can make a difference,
too, a big one. Soon she becomes involved in Harmony Day at her school. And it
seems she will later develop more of a social and environmental conscience.
This easy-to-read
book would suit keen readers aged nine years and older.
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