What would we learn if we could interview a whale? How is your neighborhood, your city, or your family like an ecosystem? Is diversity as advantageous in a community of people as it is in a coral reef? How does our environment affect us, and how do we affect our environment? These questions are both age-old and urgent, and in this collection, ninth and tenth graders from John O’Connell High School in San Francisco set out to answer them. From watching their neighborhoods change around them to living with the knowledge of the threats of climate change, these young authors are uniquely and powerfully poised to investigate and answer these big questions–and their answers contain insights everyone should hear.

This book contains resources for teachers, including a curriculum guide aligned with current Biology and English content standards, plus loads of inspiration for any aspiring writer, biologist, or educator.