It's Your World--If You Don't Like It, Change It: Activism for Teenagers

by Mikki Halpin

You can change the world.
Free Speech. Racism. The Environment. Gay Rights. Bullying and School Safety. Animal Welfare. War. Information about Safe Sex and Birth Control. Free Speech. HIV and AIDS. Women's Rights.
These are the issues you care about -- and now you can do something about them. It's Your World will show you how to act on your beliefs, no matter what they are, and make a difference.
The information inside
• The basics of activism
• Activism projects and outreach ideas
• The 5-minute activist
• How to be an activist at home, at school, and in your community
• Stories from teenagers who have taken on the world -- and won
• Resources including books, movies, and Web sites
• and much, much more
Whether at home, in school, or in your community, you have the power and the ability to create change, even if you aren't old enough to vote. Don't wait until you're eighteen to flex your political muscles -- start right now!

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Social Issues

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2004

Reviews

[Deena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounding up from 2.5 stars. I read this book for a course I am taking in order to renew my teaching license. Its intended audience is young people (middle and high school aged children), so I read it with that in mind. It is nearly 20 years old, so some of the suggestions and information presented are a bit dated (the chapter on racism could use a major update), and many of the recommended websites/resources are no longer functional. However, it could still be a useful starting point for kids who want to become active in making the world a better place. Written in a casual tone (unfortunately with quite a few typos/errors- I was quite surprised at this), I can see it appealing to aspiring activists.

[Isabella Aclan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, very informative, and gives ample alternative resources. I enjoyed reading personal experiences of students my age and was inspired to become civically engaged within my community.

[Lauren Geerlings · Rating 2 out of 5]

Have you ever been told that your opinions or feelings don’t matter? “Activism for Teenagers” is the book for you, then. The book is about informing the audience of problems that are present in the world every day. It gives facts and statistics about problems from saving the environment, to bringing up awareness about HIV/ AIDS. It then gives different scenarios and ways to act out to better the world. It gives the message that teens shouldn’t have to wait until adulthood to act. Then, at the end of each chapter, it gives about ten pages of resources to learn more on the topics. It also has a separate story that happened to someone on the side of each page.
As far as my opinion on the book, I think this book is great for giving hope to young teens. A lot of the time teens are told that their feelings/ opinions are invalid, and they are brushed off. But this book basically gives all those adults the finger, which I think is nice. I personally wasn’t very interested in the book, because I wasn’t a fan of the format of the book. I specifically didn’t like the fact that there were two separate things going on one page. There was the story and the actual information. It got very confusing, and I would find myself having to go back to the beginning of the chapter to read the other story. Regardless, I do think this is a good book, despite the fact that it’s pretty old. Some of the statistics have probably changed, so I wouldn’t rely to heavily on the information given. The book even says, “Research your cause and arm yourself with facts…” to argue your point. Accurate information is very important. Overall, I think the book is okay, and I would recommend it to young teenagers.

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It was fun to read because there were many things that were related to teenagers. There are many sections of this book that teaches teenagers how to deal with a problem. And some of the sections that Mikki Halpin talks about are Free Speech, Racism, The Environment, Gay Rights, Bullying and School Safety, Animal Welfare, War, and Information about Safe Sex. This book was helpful because I learned many tips and facts on each of the sections of this book.

[Daniel Sadicario · Rating 2 out of 5]

Purely functional: if a student wants to get a quick primer on a topic and some ideas about how to act, great, but it's more of a guide on where to get information and what to do. It lightly dips into several issues facing us and does not offer much depth or story. It also does not offer anything special in terms of a philosophy on how to approach these issues; it's just assumed that we should act and do it now. Which is great if that's what you're looking for.

[Rishika · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was very helpful