Fact Friday: The Pocket Change Collective from Penguin Workshop

Images: Penguin Random House

Fact Friday features a new series from Penguin Workshop called Pocket Change Collective. Since the four I was given to review are all around 64 -65 pages, I will talk about them together. These are mini-memoirs/essays written by young, passionate activists covering a wide variety of timely topics.

In Imaginary Borders, Xiuhtezcatl (pronounced shoe-tex-caht) Martinez talks about his climate change activism. He started when he was six-years-old and he's not yet twenty! 

In This is What I Know about Art, Kimberly Drew relates her journey from student at Smith College where, she was not only one of few Black people on campus but one of few art history majors. She went on to curate and write about making art accessible for ALL people, not just rich, white people. 

In Beyond the Gender Binary, gender non-conforming performance artist, Alok Vaid-Menon challenges the concept of the gender binary as being a Western construct that is not only narrow and limiting but needlessly punitive to those who do not conform. 

In The New Queer Conscience, community organizer and LGBTQ+ activist Adam Eli argues for kindness and compassion not only from those outside the LGBTQ+ community but also those within it. 

I found each of these tiny books absolutely fascinating and often found myself wanting more, wishing the book were longer. But that defeats the purpose of the collection. I did Google each activist and spent some time online reading more and watching videos. And that's the point. Read with an open, curious mind and set out for more information.

Two additional titles are releasing this fall: Concrete Kids by Amira León and Taking on the Plastics Crisis by Hannah Testa. All the books are illustrated Ashley Lukashevsky. 

Leading by example, these young activists and their messages are sure to resonate with teen readers. What a terrific way to inspire.