I'm happy to see this book adapted for a younger audience - I feel like creating a more accessible format will help this message reach more people in a world seeking change.

I look forward to ordering big sets of classroom copies for these!

This is a short, seven-page, one-chapter look at the book to come. This introductory look has me intrigued. I read Braiding Sweetgrass not long ago and loved every minute of it. This version is for young adults and is written in a way to introduce the scientific concepts to a younger audience. The author includes the Indigenous perspective and talks about how science and traditional ecological knowledge can be used together. It's a great way to understand the world. The author is well-known and this book promises to be an instant classic and one that every school library should have on hand for its students.

Wonderful adaptation for young adults. Looking forward to sharing this with the younger folks in my library and adding this to my collection.

Unfortunately, this book fell pretty flat for me compared to the original. I'm so gutted about the textbookification of this edition - especially the definitions. Some of them come off as pretty condescending - even for teens. I would have rather a YA edition that didn't feel like it was for classrooms but for teens who are actually excited for learning about the intersection of Indigenous practices and modern science.

The prose is pared down and less dense, but still does a really wonderful job at showing the beauty of Kimmerer's original prose and the magic behind her works.

The illustrations are also STUNNING and add so much to the story. I would love an illustrated version of the original full text.

Overall, I'm hoping that this will get some teens interested in this book, but I think this adaptation did some disservice to itself and appealing to teens outside of a classroom.

A solid choice for any introductory Indigenous Studies, Ethnic Studies, or environmental justice course. This young readers edition is also great if you’re looking for a shorter adaption that doesn’t sacrifice the original’s depth and complexity of ideas. A wonderful adaptation with beautiful art and emphases on key passages and discussion prompts.

Changing PDF to a mobi (Kindle) file is easy. https://convertio.co/pdf-mobi/
I do not want to have to sit with my laptop in order to read the book. It sounds very interesting.
Please let me know once you have converted it. Thank you!

I loved this sneak peek and can’t wait to read more with my children! This sample had the same sense of place as the adult novel with an obvious younger audience in mind, but not impossible for an adult to enjoy.

This was only a sneak peak of the novel and I already want to devour the full thing and use it in my classroom.

I love the readability of it: there's pictures, essential questions and hands on experiments to try out. I love how interactive this novel feels.

The chapter I read gives a glimpse into why the author decided to study botany, obstacles faced and really thought provoking questions.

I totally tried out the yellow and white experiment idea. It is bananas how that works. I used this video to verify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6q0PkDNT4c - so cool!

If I learned all that from one chapter, image all the nuggets of informational treasure to be had in the full novel!

I wish we could have had more than just the first chapter because it was beautiful! I'd never even heard of Braiding Sweetgrass before but now I think I'll have to check it out. There's just something so wonderful to me about books adapted for my students. I am super excited for this one!

I purchased a copy of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass when it first came out. I wanted to support a book written by an Indigenous person who is also a scientist. I had hoped that it would be as good as the hype. It was, and is. There isn’t anything quite like it. When I was offered a chance to read Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, I definitely wanted to check it out. I work with a lot of teens and hoped that this would be a great addition. The book is good, but I feel like it has been simplified too much for that demographic. Your average teen reading this book doesn’t need to have the word botany defined for them. Many of the social issues are much too simplified. Personally, I would rather give the original version a recommendation to teens over this YA edition.

Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

I first learned of Robin Wall Kimmerer during her guest interview on the podcast "Ologies with Alie Ward',
Robin is a profound speaker and has an unparalleled passion for Indigenous Botany. I never knew American plant life could be so awe-inspiring! I have had Braiding Sweetgrass on my TBR ever since.

Conceptually, Kimmerer weaves an engaging narrative from the first page. (Who doesn't love an underdog in STEAM?) However, I feel as though the 'Young Adult' model may be unfairly balanced. The sidenotes in the first chapter alone offer definitions for concepts like 'botany' and 'worldview' yet expect the reader to understand things like 'energetic reciprocity' and the history of Indian Boarding Schools.

In a guided lesson these topics could be explored with the depth that they deserve. As a recreational read, however, I cannot envision many teenagers/young adults staying the course.

I would like to give this introduction a 5/5 for storytelling alone, but the sample is too short to properly gage relative interest. As a result, I will settle for 3/5 and eagerly anticipate the full release.

[Thank you NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group, Zest Books ™ for a free sample chapter of this book in exchange for an honest review.]

The beautiful, informative words of the original are effectively reworked for a younger audience in fashion that is easy to understand, complete with illustrations and guided subtitles. This is a necessary resource in secondary school classrooms, especially in natural science classes!

As this was just a sample chapter of Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, I am now very interested in getting and reading the entire book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for providing me a free e-ARC sample of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

While I didn't know this was a sample chapter when I downloaded Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, I really enjoyed reading this sample chapter. Kimmerer really illustrates the beauty that nature has to offer us and how we should be viewing nature as a holistic perspective rather than purely scientific. This chapter was easy-to-read and I loved the illustrations inside the book. While I don't have enough insight on this book since I have not read its predecessor, I was thoroughly impressed with this book.

I would love to review the rest of the book and I can't wait to get this on my to-be-read list.

I loved the adult version of this book and the young adult version delivers as well! This version makes the information so accessible for younger readers, and the visuals and reflection questions add greater depth to the insight that is omnipresent. I would recommend this to everyone (not just YA) so that they, too, can “look for relationships and understand the threads that connect the world. To join instead of divide.”

This first chapter sneak peek has me completely hooked! I can't wait to see the full Young Adult version because I think it will be absolutely perfect for the secondary classroom. I even want to read some of it to my elementary children because they are in exploration and science. The way it is set up with questions to ponder, definitions and calls to action makes it an engaging and dynamic read. I love the different text features that include text boxes and illustrations. Kimmerer sets up the book excellently by juxtaposing two different ways of knowing - one scientific and one experiential. I can't wait to read the rest!

This one chapter was well done, and I could see myself offering this as an option for some of my students. I hope that the final version includes color images to help students visualize these plants, and that the table of contents align closely with the adult book.

Extremely beautiful writing. I missed the part where it was only the first chapter. Having read the original version, I was especially keen to see how it's adapted for a younger audience and will certainly check out the longer work.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group/Zest Books for the sample. I was disappointed that the sample was literally 7 pages. I don't feel that this is enough to leave a decent review. But, I am voluntarily leaving my thoughts. This seems like it will be a super interesting book. There are photos of the plants but they are in black and white. To me, they are not as effective. Why not in color? It makes identifying plants so much easier to seem in color. My disappointment overrode my interest for now. So for me, this is just 2 stars. I will see if I can get a copy of the entire book and hopefully change my rating.

This book is a must read. I'm going to recommend to everyone I know to be honest. The information is given in a way that is easy to understand. I did enjoy the regular version a bit more than the young adult version.