Description
When everything seems to be going wrong, sometimes you just have to stand up for what you believe in, even if it's just in your own little corner of the world…
This was meant to be Alice's year to shine, but things are already going wrong.
At school, she's given young environmental activist Greta Thunberg as her pen pal for a fictional writing assignment. Why couldn't Alice get someone easy to write to, like a pop star?
Then she's put in charge of taking the Harmony Day Food Fair online, which seems impossible, especially when she is teamed up with the most annoying boy in her school.
As if she didn't have enough on her plate, Alice gets kicked out of her bedroom by her grandmother coming to stay. And no matter what Alice does, she'll never be able to live up to her infuriating big sister's achievements, right?
Through her letters to Greta, Alice finds herself opening up about her life. And as Alice approaches the hard questions by wondering, 'What would Greta do?', she starts to believe that she can make a difference - a big one.
Review
Alice is in Year 6 at Melwood Public School and she hopes it’s going to be a wonderful year. But it’s not really going to plan. Her Grandmother has moved into her bedroom, as she needs to recover from a heart episode, and Alice is stuck in the sunroom.
Her class project for the term is to be a pen pal to someone famous. Alice wants Beyonce or Ash Barty, but she gets Greta Thunberg - how hard is that going to be?! And to top it all off, Alice and her friend Sami are paired with Jayden and Lance, her sworn enemies, to run the Year 6 Harmony Day Food Fair, the most important event in the whole year.
This story is written entirely in emails to Greta, as Alice works her way through all the things happening in her life. It’s a story of friendship and growing up, but more importantly, it’s about Alice learning that one person can make a difference - you just have to decide to do something, rather than nothing.
A thoroughly enjoyable novel that will make readers consider what they might be capable of. It would make a great class novel for Year 6.
Reviewed by Michelle
