Hope Jones Saves the World

Along with spiders, ten-year-old Hope Jones’s major worry is global warming. Hope is upset by the amount of plastic in the world after watching a video at school showing the pollution of the oceans and how turtles and other animals can ingest plastic and die. So, for her New Year’s Resolution, she decides to do something about it and give up plastic. She soon finds this is almost impossible to do but she is determined to do her best. She decides to start with the local supermarket as that is where she notices that vast amounts of plastic are used in almost everything from yoghurt pots to wrapping vegetables.

Hope sets up a blog and makes a huge banner and begins a protest outside the supermarket. She writes to the manager who tries to move her away and claims she is annoying the customers.

Gradually her protest gains momentum. The local café decides to reduce their use of plastic and become more environmentally responsible. The protest outside the supermarket grows as friends and customers join in. Hope gets her family on board and researches alternatives to cleaning products and other household items they can use instead. But in her enthusiasm Hope is grounded for disobeying her mother and going to the supermarket on her own to protest.

A meeting with the CEO and the marketing team at the supermarket head office is disappointing as they prefer to put profit before the environment. But Hope inspires her school to become greener and is interviewed for a local news website and becomes almost a local celebrity.

Written in the style of blog this story is full of great ideas to cut down on plastic. Hope is a feisty, resourceful and determined child and shows that it is possible to make changes by starting small and being persistent. She grows in confidence throughout the story and is a wonderfully positive role model. The black and white illustrations add warmth and humour. Although the story is perhaps a touch didactic in places it would be an excellent book to inspire children in schools and to show it is possible to make a difference.