The 21: The True Story of the Youth Who Sued the U.S. Government Over Climate Change

THE 21 are a group of students from across America, who, in 2015, became the plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States, a landmark lawsuit against the U.S. government. Filed by a young lawyer named Julia Olson with 19-year-old Kelsey Juliana from Oregon as the lead plaintiff, it's a classic David vs. Goliath struggle. Julia Olson and the 21 are victorious and face defeat in multiple hearings and trials as the legal case unfolds; also unfolding are wildfires, floods, droughts, and hurricanes driven by climate change across the United States. Readers meet several of the young plaintiffs: Sahara Valentine suffers from asthma made worse by the wildfires around their home in Oregon; they overcome their shyness and becomes a protest leader. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, an Indigenous anti-fracking hip-hop warrior from Colorado, co-founds the nonprofit youth activism organization Earth Guardians. Levi Draheim starts giving speeches about climate change and the lawsuit at age 9 and faces two huge hurricanes in his hometown in Florida over the course of the book. A self-described "angsty metalhead teenager," Miriam Oomman refuses to sit on the sidelines and has been arrested at protests in the U.S. and Europe. The book ends without a resolution as the lawsuit continues to make its way through the court system. Lawyer Julia Olson's deepest belief and hope is that Juliana v. United States will someday go down in history as the "case that changed everything."