Steal This Country: A Handbook for Resistance, Persistence, and Fixing Almost Everything

A walk-the-walk, talk-the-talk, hands-on, say-it-loud handbook for activist kids who want to change the world

Inspired by Abbie Hoffman's radical classic, Steal This Book, author Alexandra Styron's stirring call for resistance and citizen activism will be clearly heard by young people who don't accept it is what it is, who want to make sure everybody gets an equal piece of the American pie, and who know that the future of the planet is now.

Styron's irreverent and informative primer on how to make a difference is organized into three sections: The Why, The What, and The How. The book opens with a personal essay and a historic look at civil disobedience and teenage activism in America. That's followed by a deep dive into several key issues: climate change, racial justice, women's rights, LGBTQIA rights, immigration, religious understanding, and intersectionality. Each chapter is introduced by an original full page comic and includes a summary of key questions, interviews with movers and shakers--from celebrities to youth activists--and spotlights on progressive organizations. The book's final section is packed with how-to advice on ways to engage, from group activities such as organizing, marching, rallying, and petitioning to individual actions like voting with your wallet, volunteering, talking with relatives with different viewpoints, and using social activism to get out a progressive message.

This is a perfect book for older middle-schoolers and teens who care about the planet, the people with whom they share it, and the future for us all.

Author: Alexandra Styron
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Published: 09/04/2018
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.70lbs
Size: 9.20h x 7.80w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780451479372
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2018
Publishers Weekly 08/06/2018
School Library Journal 09/01/2018 pg. 140
Booklist 10/01/2018 pg. 32
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2019 - Recommended, Satisfactory

About the Author
Alexandra Styron is the author of the bestselling memoir Reading My Father, and All the Finest Girls, a novel. Her work has appeared in several anthologies as well as The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Vanity Fair, among other publications. A graduate of the MFA program at Columbia University, Alexandra is a professor of creative writing in the MFA program at Hunter College. She lives with her husband and two children in Brooklyn, New York.