ISBN: 9780340970157

Synopsis It’s January 1st, 2015, and the UK is the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing, in a drastic bid to combat climate change. As her family spirals out of control, Laura Brown chronicles the first year of rationing with scathing abandon. Will her mother become one with her inner wolf? Will her sister give up her weekends in Ibiza? Does her father love the pig more than her? Can her band the dirty angels make it big? And will Ravi Datta ever notice her? In these dark days, Laura deals with the issues that really matter: love, floods and pigs. The Carbon Diaries 2015 is one girl’s drastic bid to stay sane in a world unravelling at the seams.

Children's Book Review The story basically takes you to London in the year 2015, not a lot has changed, except for the extreme weather conditions. The main character Laura, who lives in England, lives in a world where carbon rations have been issued, and only a certain amount of energy can be spent per month. Because of this you aren’t aloud to fly on a plane, or buy a mango that has been shipped in from South-Africa. Some people have a hard time adjusting, for example Laura’s sister Kim who misses the glamour of her former lifestyle and secretly flies to Ibiza, four times. And then has to go to the carbon-overspenders-rehab. Or Laura’s family that doesn’t cope too well being in one room, and is now forced to watch the telly together, because watching separately would take too much carbon-points. And with all this madness going on, Laura still has to think about her social life, her school and her secret crush on Ravi Datta.

What I thought:

I would certainly recommend this book to you because it’s not only a really fun book to read, it also makes you think about important things, like the environment. But the story doesn’t get too heavy, because the main character Laura does have other things in her life, like her band, her best friend and the –very important- the boy she likes. Book reviewed by Wilemijn Beks