Yvette Poshoglian, Dear Greta, Penguin Random House, March 2022, 288 pp., RRP $16.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781761043789
Dear Greta, a novel aimed at readers aged 8-11 years details the everyday life of Alice who is a Year 6 student, grappling with the ups and downs of school, friendships and a world that seems full of expectations.
Alice has a library assignment to write a letter to influential young leader, Greta Thunberg. She begins to write to her daily, journalling her thoughts and questions. The structure of the novels is a collection of emails that Alice writes but never sends. Alice expresses her worries and concerns about school, family relationships, and how she compares herself to her peers.
As Alice traverses Year 6 and the ups and downs of group work with “enemies”, she discovers more about Greta through finding that caring for her own cause can trigger great courage.
Although the title suggests an emphasis on environmental themes, technology is strongly featured, balanced as both a help and hinderance in Alice’s life. For example, social media creates a negative impact, at times increasing social pressure on Alice. Balancing this aspect is the vital role of social media to garner support and action for change. Alice has a school friend Anh, for whom technology is transformative, allowing her an opportunity to interact with her friends at school and to have a presence in class via a roving screen that she can control from home during long periods of being unwell. The acknowledgements explain that the technology is currently in schools and is part of the STEM Technology 4 Learning programme in the NSW Department of Education that Yvette Poshoglian works within.
Dear Greta is an inspiring story which delves into leadership, influence, compassion and the challenges of growing up in a world where technology can create global influence. Teachers’ notes are available on the publisher’s website.
Reviewed by Angela Brown
