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Sunday, June 19, 2022

Review: Mandalay Hawk's Dilema

 

"Tom Hawk had come to accept that his daughter - his very smart and very motivated, but extremely unprepared daughter - was going to try to march to Washington without any plan or parental support"


I was given a copy of this book for review. You can find my review and original book image at 

https://www.amazon.com/Mandalay-Hawks-Dilemma-United-Anthropocene/dp/1732077533/


"Tom Hawk had come to accept that his daughter - his very smart and very motivated, but extremely unprepared daughter - was going to try to march to Washington without any plan or parental support"


Mandalay suffers through a hurricane, leading her to the impetuous action of burning a bunch of school property (donated by an electric company). What follows is her journey to activate her generation for climate change. It read much like The Day After Tomorrow watched - singular agenda driven. All characters are defined by the main thrust of the book: environmental issues. From Mandalay's red lipstick message WE READ: "THEY CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING-LIKE ALL POWER COMPANIES USING FOSSIL FUEL!! HOW STUPID CAN WE BE? IF WE DON'T STOP GLOBAL WARMING NOW, IT WILL BE TOO LATE! IT WILL MAKE THE PANDEMIC OF 2020 LOOK LIKE A PICNIC IN THE PARK!!!... ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! THIS CR** HAS TO STOP NOW!!!" It is ALL CAPS, bold face here matching the text in the book.


There is a great scene early on between Mandalay and Gertrude where Gertrude asks, "please tell me how you and your friends plan on saving the world." The response made me chuckle, "Nothing embarrasses a kid more than having their own words or actions shoved right back in their face."


I suppose time will tell if books such as these can help us change collectively in such a way as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle once did for the meat industry. Here, marches, rap songs (I was ill prepared for Mandalay as an eloquent rapper), and rooftop gardens are the proposed solutions, leaving this reader to close the book feeling preached at without any discernable path forward.


I was given a copy for review.

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