We are planning a curriculum for next year that will involve urban sprawl, city planning, and social action (all of the expeditions focus on some sort of social action). Do you know of any young adult novels that would contain the theme of social activism or kids working with the city government on community issues?
Annotations are taken from NoveList
The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg
Upon leaving an oppressive summer camp, twelve-year-old Margaret Rose Kane spearheads a campaign to preserve three unique towers her grand uncles have been building in their back yard for over forty years.
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
When sixteen-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner's political campaign to oust the town's corrupt mayor.
Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip
While serving as co-editors of their school newspaper, middle-schoolers Adam and Jennifer uncover fraud and corruption in their school and in the city's government.
The Heart of the City by Ron Koertge
After she and her parents move to an ethnically mixed inner city neighborhood, ten-year-old Joy and her new friend Neesha decide to do something to keep drug dealers off their block.
All of the Above by Shelley Pearsall
Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.
Soccer Chick Rules by Dawn Fitzgerald
While trying to focus on a winning soccer season, thirteen-year-old Tess becomes involved in local politics when she learns that all sports programs at her school will be stopped unless a tax levy is passed.
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.
The Young Landlords by Walter Dean Myers
Five devoted friends become landlords and try to make their Harlem neighborhood a better place to live.
Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman
One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners are themselves transformed.
