Our habitat 'The Big Picture'

Saving the planet and stuff by Gail Gauthier (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2003.)

16 year old  under-motivated and underachieving Michael, takes advantage of an offer from his grandparents friends to work as an intern at their ecologically oriented magazine during the summer holidays.  Without much thought, Michael accepts the offer of living away from home with Walt and Nora, with their pro-environment beliefs and finds himself 'freaked out' by the composting toilets, lack of air conditioning and piles of junk in his bedroom that Walt and Nora refuse to take to the overflowing rubbish tip. Whilst answering e-mails at the magazine, he stumbles across a plot to take over the magazine, and a refusal by the managing director to expose a well-known company for knowingly producing defective material.

Set in the here and now in the US, this story is funny, nice and pacy with lots of reference to appealing themes for teens, such as mass consumerism and ecological issues. There are lots of references to pop culture and even a romance on the side for Michael. Will appeal to ages 10 and up.