Emily is the newest content contributor to GirlSpring! She will be looking for new books to review each month in 2019/2020, so look our for new books here! Emily was inspired to do this by being a part of the social justice book club in her community.
Written By – Emily G.
You buy a pair of sneakers. You are happy because you have the same kicks as your friends. The company that sold you those nice looking shoes make a big profit, but their employees are not so happy. Your new shoes are made by “teenage girls who toil in a fume-filled sneaker factory for eighteen cents an hour” (Rockliff, 8). If this kind of thing troubles you, read Get Real: What Kind of World are YOU Buying, a non-fiction book written by Mara Rockliff.
In her book you will find very intriguing topics that leave you wanting to know more. Rockliff is not criticizing your buying chocolate or those nice sneakers, she just wants you to see what you are really buying. In other countries, teens our age don’t babysit for sneaker money. They work their tails off making 18 cents an hour that is spent on their family’s basic needs. In this powerful book, Rockliff teaches us where our money really goes–kind of like the ad “What’s in your wallet?” she tells us “Where is your money going? In this month of December when we go to buy presents, we want to remember where things come from. All the money we spend this holiday is not going where you think it is.
After I read this book, I started to realize what it is like to be a teen in a foreign country. The teens work so hard for so little profit which wouldn’t happen in the United States. We have such a privilege to live here and make a good profit. If you like these kinds of books, look for more social justice books at your local library or bookstore.
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