My River: Cleaning up the LaHave River

by Anne Laurel Carter, Stella Bowles

Stella Bowles was a Grade 6 Nova Scotia student when she turned environmental activist to campaign against sewage pipes draining straight into the LaHave River. This is the inspirational first person account of Stella's Grade 6 science fair project which caught the eyes of the media, the public and government leaders propelling her into the limelight. Stella details her two and a half year fight to clean up the river, winning numerous awards for her environmental activism along the way. She succeeds in shaming three levels of government and rallying supporters into funding a $15.7 million cleanup. Today, she continues to campaign for cleaner water and demonstrates to other children how to test water quality in their own back yards, and how to take action if they find their water is polluted too. Stella's story will motivate readers to engage in local environmental activism. She demonstrates that doing what's right has no age barriers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada

96 pages, Paperback

Published September 25, 2018

About the author

Anne Laurel Carter has been a waitress, baker, store clerk, fruit picker and milked cows. Her all-time favourite job was being a school librarian. She often writes about experiences she, her siblings, her friends, her four children, even complete strangers had, or she imagines they had, and then embellishes. Liberally. She divides her year, writing and teaching, between Toronto and Nova Scotia.

Reviews

[Wunderdrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title is nominated for the 2020 Hackmatack Award in the non-fiction category. It tells the story of a girl named Stella Bowles who was upset about the condition of the river in her backyard, and what she decided to do about it. Stella decided to do a science project to prove that that there was indeed a serious issue, spread awareness to the people, and then she advocated for all three levels of government (municipal, provincial, and federal) to step up and do something about it! It took awhile - think 21 months - but eventually, everyone came together to initiate a plan to begin to eliminate one of the major sources of contamination by funding a project to replace sewage pipes with septic systems.
I think this is an excellent book about not only environmental activism but also having the courage to stand up and speak out when you see something that isn't right, and the determination to stick with it. I would definitely recommend it to kids who are interested in activism, local politics, the environment, and especially stories about other kids doing remarkable things.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stella Bowles is a teenager on a mission. Her family lives on the LaHave River in Nova Scotia. When she found out that it was unsafe to swim in the water because of e coli contamination, she decided to do something about it. More than 600 homes were piping their household sewage waste directly, and illegally, into the river. With the help of a mentor, Stella began testing the water and made sure that people heard about the results. She kept pushing for something to be done until something was done to correct the problem. Municipal, provincial, and federal governments agreed to fund the replacement of illegal sewage pipes with legal septic systems. Along the way, she won science fairs, was interviewed by the CBC and others, and even met with Prime Minister Trudeau - all before she even started high school. I can’t wait to see where her passion takes her as she grows into adulthood.

[J R Deveau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Job! I also want to swim and play in the LaHave. It's going to take time but I can see a future where this can happen thanks to you Stella.