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Teenage Literature: Mortal Heart

Mortal-Heart-CoverPart of my ethics in blogging is to review every product that is sent to me whether it fits the ethos of Eco Child’s Play or not.  I feel obligated as if answering and receiving an item is some sort of contract. I often put off the reviews that are not green or eco-friendly, but then my piles and to do list builds.  Well here goes…

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers is the last in a trilogy called His Fair Assassin. I have not read the first three books, so I couldn’t bring myself to read this one.  My teenage daughter found it appealing, but again, without the first two, we feel a little lost just jumping in.

In the powerful conclusion to Robin LaFever’s New York Times bestselling His Fair Assassins trilogy, Annith has watched her gifted sisters at the convent come and go, carrying out their dark dealings in the name of St. Mortain, patiently awaiting her own turn to serve Death. But her worst fears are realized when she discovers she is being groomed by the abbess as a Seeress, to be forever sequestered in the rock and stone womb of the convent. Feeling sorely betrayed, Annith decides to strike out on her own.
She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind, doesn’t mean she has.
The trilogy has great reviews and looks very intriguing. I am drawn by the cover art, but what about the publisher?  How green are they?  Since I can’t really review the content of the book, I can look at the company behind it.
Mortal Heart is published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH).  There are two key initiatives in their corporate social responsibility report I find noteworthy.

Sustainability
Our 2014 Paper Procurement and Usage Policy, deemed industry-leading by the Rainforest Action Network, outlines HMH’s commitment to responsible and reduced environmental impact, including specific goals to achieve by 2018.

Green Apple Initiative
Together with the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), HMH is working to provide more than two million children with access to safer, healthier, and better learning environments.

I feel like the sustainability initiative does not go far enough.
Screen Shot 2016-01-06 at 7.31.11 PM
These percentages should be much higher.
The Center for Green Schools looks like a very cool organization.

Three pillars of a green school

The international green schools community is increasingly aligned around three aspirational goals for schools: zero environmental footprint (including energy, water, waste and carbon), a positive impact on occupant health and performance, and 100% of graduates demonstrating environmental literacy. In 2011, the U.S. Department of Education launched its Green Ribbon Schools award program—a monumental step forward for the green schools movement—by asking schools, colleges and universities to show their progress toward these pillars. And since 2012, the Center for Green Schools has asked the participating countries in our Global Coalition for Green Schools to sign on to the goals of the three pillars as well.

The three pillars—environmental impact, human health and eco-literacy—act as a simple, elegant organizing principle for K-12 schools and higher education institutions around the world as they journey toward whole-school sustainability. This definition unites the education, health and environmental communities in a global green schools movement.

As part of the Green Apple initiative, HMH is encouraging schools to do virtual sampling of textbooks.  Textbook publication is big business.  Just think of how many books you would sell if adopted by a large state like California.  As a teacher, I have witnessed our small county office packed with sample materials from publishers during adoption years. These samples then become free for teachers, but they are incomplete and often useless.  Virtual sampling is a good idea.
Although I feel HMH could set higher sustainability goals, at least, they are thinking about it.   Mortal Heart looks so good, I think I am going to purchase the first two books so I can read it. I do love trilogies!  Was it printed on FSC paper?  I see no evidence of it, but FSC is not exactly the greatest certification anyways.[1]http://fsc-watch.com/2014/06/01/the-10-worst-things-about-the-forest-stewardship-council/

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↑1 http://fsc-watch.com/2014/06/01/the-10-worst-things-about-the-forest-stewardship-council/
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About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

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