In the final book in the Book Uncle trilogy, Anil faces a dilemma when the city decides to build a solar panel factory on the site of a mangrove forest.
Anil loves karate, his friends and the solar power project he has been championing in his community. He doesn't love having to speak up - as his karate sensei says, best fight, no fight. Still, Anil wishes his classmate Mohan would stop picking on him.
Then Anil learns where the city is planning to build a new solar panel factory. More sustainable energy is good news - but this factory will threaten plant and animal species and force the village people who live on the land to move. Maybe staying quiet isn't an option anymore …
A class assignment nudges Anil into action. Now he's a Young Reporter, so why not ask questions about the factory? With help from his friends Yasmin and Reeni, support from his classmates and neighbors, and the right book picks from Book Uncle, can Anil help the city find a solution that works for everyone? And just how loudly will he have to speak up?
A triumphant finale to the Book Uncle trilogy about the power of asking the right questions and listening when change comes to your community.
Key Text Features
chapters
dialogue
illustrations
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.9
Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
I say, "Maybe they can be careful, building the factory? Maybe they can build around the trees? I mean - they're both green projects, right?" I don't mean to wail, but that is how my words come spouting out.
Reeni chokes on this wishful thinking. "Oh noooooo! Anil how can you say that? They'll cut down trees. They'll poison the place. What are we going to do?"
This shouldn't be happening. We have two good things going on here. One: cleaning up a beach so that fish and birds and other creatures can live. Two: building a factory to make solar panels so we can burn less coal and less petroleum and stop dirtying our air and overheating the earth, which is good for us but also for fish and birds and other creatures, right? How can those two things possibly be fighting with each other?
In the final book in the Book Uncle trilogy, Anil faces a dilemma when the city decides to build a solar panel factory on the site of a mangrove forest.
• A triumphant finale to the bestselling Book Uncle trilogy! The trilogy is about kids doing what they can to create change in their communities.
• Book Uncle and Me has sold 10,000 copies in hardcover and 50,000 copies in paperback. The second book in the series, Birds on the Brain, published in Spring 2024.
• This book looks at how sustainability efforts, and indeed any civic project, need to be informed by multiple points of view. Themes include: truth in reporting, news bias and friendship.
• Readers will be happy to see more of Book Uncle in this book, including a wonderful scene where Book Uncle reveals to Anil how the magic of his "right book for the right person on the right day" motto works.
chapters;dialogue;illustrations
