Green Jolene

Buy the Book: Bookshop (Hardcover), Amazon, Barnes & Noble
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Release Date: February 4, 2025
Contributors: Billy Yong
Pages: 112
ISBN13: 978-1368107563

 
Overview

Meet Green Jolene: a green, clean, climate-conscious heroine.

This illustrated chapter book series by New York Times best-selling author Wendy Mass is perfect for kids who are inspired by Greta Thunberg and love Beverly Cleary's Beezus and Ramona and other classics like Ivy & Bean and Clementine.

It all began (as the best stories do) with a very stinky backpack!

Jolene wouldn’t have guessed that the first day of summer vacation would start with her trying to figure out if the squishy object smelling up her backpack was a half-eaten tuna sandwich or a six-month-old plum! (It was both!) While dumping old food in the trash and bringing out the recycling, Jolene sees the huge boxes of stuff her new neighbors got delivered. She realizes how many of her own belongings she doesn’t use anymore.

Horrified by the idea of contributing to overflowing landfills and trash-filled oceans, Jolene hatches a big plan to not only deal with her own stuff, but her whole neighborhood’s unwanted items as well. Of course, big plans never work out quite the way we think they will!

Clad in her favorite rain boots, Jolene is ready to save the world. Or, at least, to tackle her own neighborhood’s stuff and find some surprising new allies along the way. For fans of Ivy & Bean and Clementine comes Jolene, a can-do new hero who is discovering how to take an Earth-first approach to every problem she encounters.

This book is part of the Disney Planet Possible Books program, aiming to inspire and empower young readers to take care of planet Earth through amazing stories and kid-friendly environmental activities.

Reviews

"Soon-to-be third-grader Jolene Greenfield’s best friend, Amie, has moved away, leaving Jolene to entertain herself over the summer. The chance to meet her new neighbors—and their unfriendly daughter, Brittany—doesn’t occur until garbage day. After passing judgment on the large boxes of Brittany’s toys, Jolene takes inventory of her own collection and is shocked to discover she owns 88 toys! Jolene is an intuitive protagonist, and despite a few hiccups, she quickly organizes a neighborhood swap meet, making new friends along the way. As one of the first books to be published within the Disney Planet Possible Books program, the Green Jolene series starter aims to inspire young readers to engage in environmental advocacy, conservation, and stewardship. To boost this mission, publication measures are environmentally conscious. Yong’s clean-line grayscale artwork appears as full-page and spot illustrations, and it complements Mass’ buoyant voice in Jolene. Quirky characters add to the charm, keeping the importance of environmentally conscious decision-making light and digestible for young readers.
—Kirkus Reviews

…by detailing the practical preparations necessary to accomplish Jolene’s goals, Mass (The Lost Library) demonstrates environmental principles in action, making for a thoughtful and fun introduction to eco-conscious concepts. Bouncy grayscale illustrations by Yong (The Minor Miracle) feature throughout.
—Publishers Weekly