If you'd rather place an order by talking to one of our cheerful order desk clerks, please call 1-888-232-4444 (USA and Canada only) or 250-383-6864. From Europe, ring our UK order desk clerk at local rate number 0845 230 9601 (UK only) or 44 (0)1865 722 113.

Down to Earth: A Publication of Learning for a Cause

by Lester B. Pearson High School with Roberta Bondar and Justin Trudeau; Edited by Michael E. Sweet

150 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-2868; ISBN 1-4251-6271-1; US$18.95, C$18.95, EUR12.94, £9.78

100 students together with Roberta Bondar and Justin Trudeau bring you an emotional look at our changing planet through the medium of literature and art.

About the Book

In the autumn of 2007 more than 100 high school students were asked how they felt about global warming and worldwide environmental destruction. Coached by their award-winning teaching, Michael Sweet, these students responded poignantly through the medium of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and art. Their passionate responses were collected and published as Down to Earth.

Down to Earth features forewords by Canada's First Woman in Space Roberta Bondar and Justin Trudeau son of the legendary Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

Down to Earth has received rave reviews from many of Canada's leaders:

"Nature has inspired poetry for centuries, and it is clear that it continues to do so today. It is inspiring to see how the students of Lester B. Pearson have responded to the environmental changes we are beginning to witness. There are important lessons here for all of us, especially adults."

-David Suzuki
Co-founder of The David Suzuki Foundation

"Writing for a cause is exactly what everyone should be doing. And, adolescence is the perfect place to start. It is wonderful that these young people (led by Michael Sweet) are able to burst out of the oppressive peer pressure of self-indulgence that has turned youth into market targets. Their ideas will crystallize and grow through this expression and they will be put to positive use, which will be urgently needed in the coming decades."

Robert Bateman
Legendary Canadian Artist and Naturalist

About the Author

Michael Ernest Sweet is an award-winning writer, pioneering public educator and outspoken journalist. In 2004 he founded The Learning for a Cause Institute, which has coached more than 400 high school students to publication in the years since. Michael and his innovative teaching have been featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine on numerous occasions as well as on both major Canadian television networks. A prolific writer in his own right, Michael Sweet has more than fifty publications in fiction, poetry, popular media and academia. Learning for a Cause is featured internationally at more than a dozen venues per year such as the NCTE Conference in New York and the International Forum on Education and Culture in Rome.

Michael Sweet is Poet Laureate for the Monarchist Society of America. He currently teaches in the faculty of English at Lester B. Pearson High School in Montreal.