Climate is Just the Start
Written by Mikaela Loach
Bright Matter Books, 2025, 192 pp
ISBN: 978-0593897324
Climate is Just the Start introduces the implications of climate change on our daily lives and inspires readers to take action to address the climate crisis. The author, Mikaela Loach, shares her personal stories about how she went from being a medical student to a climate justice activist.
The introduction of the book reads like a letter from the author to her readers, letting them know what she wants to say about climate change. The content is divided into three parts. Part 1 starts with “the story of the disappearing beaches,” which is introduced as visible evidence of climate change. The stories shared in this section help readers understand how people’s actions in one part of the world influence people’s lives in other parts of the world. In Part 2, climate denial is introduced. The readers will learn how some businesses, such as ExxonMobil, use climate denial to benefit themselves, even though they know burning fossil fuels could bring severe negative impacts on the Earth. Part 3 provides examples of how young people have stood up for climate change in the past. At the end of the book, the author asks readers, “What are you going to do? And, how are you going to make what moves you move the world around you?”
The text includes illustrations that visually summarize the written content, helping readers revisit what they read about. In the back matter, a glossary and resources for further action are included. The glossary provides the vocabulary for readers to learn about climate change.
Climate change and climate justice are critical topics for children and teens to grapple with and Climate is Just the Start introduces these issues through concrete examples from the past or and the present. The author helps readers see how our lives are all connected even though we live in different parts of the globe. Learning about the climate crisis can give readers uneasy feelings, but the author gives a hopeful message and encourages readers to take action to keep the earth sustainable. After reading this book, readers may recognize climate change as a global issue and be aware of how they generate and use energy. The author asks readers what they will do individually to tackle climate change and reminds them of the importance of creating a community and taking action together to make a change.
Climate is Just the Start can be paired with the graphic novel Global: One Fragile World. An Epic Fight for Survival (Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin & Giovanni Rigano, 2023). Global introduces climate change through compelling fictional stories about two children, one in far north Canada and the other in a village along the Indian Ocean. Global puts readers on the edge of their seats with realistic visual descriptions of life-threatening dangers that these children face. Readers will learn how two children’s living environments are interconnected and how climate change brought dangers to their lives.
The author, Mikaela Loach, is a leading British-Jamaican climate justice activist. Forbes, BBC Women’s Hour, and The Guardian named her one of the most influential women in the UK climate movement. She has organized many grassroots climate movements, including Stop Cambo, Fossil Free Book, Resist Glencore, and the UL Black Eco Feminist Collective. She has also published It’s Not That Radical: Climate Action to Transform Our World (2023). You can visit Mikaela’s website to learn more about her and what she is fighting for.
Jongsun Wee, Pacific University
© 2025 by Jongsun Wee
