The 21: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U. S. Government Over Climate Change
by Elizabeth Rusch
Middle School, High School    Greenwillow    400 pp.
9/23    9780063220850    $19.99
e-book ed.  9780063220874    $10.99

In 2015, lawyer Julia Olson filed Juliana v. United States on behalf of twenty-one young plaintiffs from across the country, all of whom were affected in some way by climate change (e.g., health effects, threats to their homes). The suit alleged that the government was violating their constitutional rights by promoting the fossil fuel system that was wreaking havoc on their lives, and that the government had known about these dangers for decades. The still-pending case wound its way through the legal system with dramatic twists and turns; most recently (as of this writing), a judge ruled that the plaintiffs could amend their complaint and go to trial. Rusch does a marvelous job of weaving together multiple strands into a compelling and timely narrative: an inspiring and empowering story of youth activism, a primer on the role of the judicial branch in our democracy, and a cautionary tale about the mounting dangers of climate change. It’s no small task to distinguish the twenty-one young people, but Rusch liberally quotes them throughout the book, and an annotated list of characters at the beginning is paired with an update at the end (there are also sixteen pages of black-and-white photographs gathered in the middle). Additional scientific information, websites, a timeline, source notes, a glossary, and an index are also appended.

From the November/December 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.