The first YA biography of Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist, urbanist, and thinker who transformed the way we inhabit and develop our cities.
Shortlisted for the 2023 Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice
Jane Jacobs was born more than a hundred years ago, yet the ideas she popularized — about cities, about people, about creating a more equitable world — remain hugely relevant today. Rebecca Pitts paints a vivid picture of a headstrong and principled young girl who committed her life to building cities made for, and by, the people who live in them. Refusing the conventional wisdom of the time, Jacobs championed diversity, community, grassroots organizing, and “the life of the street” — and she never backed down, even when it meant going up against the most powerful man in New York, Robert Moses. Here is a story about standing up for what you know is right, including a playbook full of real-world takeaways for young activists.
Paperback.
