Firstly, whilst this book has Greta Thunberg's name on it, it seems to be written predominantly by Malena Ernman, her mother. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting when I picked it up. The book is about their family, and also about the climate crisis, and it does cover both of those topics in depth. However, at the beginning it states that the book is not an autobiography. I disagree. The book does feel very autobiographical. It's the story of the family, and their journey through mental health problems and becoming climate activists.

The first quarter of the book didn't interest me all that much. It was predominantly about Malena's life and her music career. It felt like a celebrity autobiography, with a lot of information about Malena's musical career and name drops of other famous people. I personally didn't find this very interesting and found myself skim reading it, waiting for Greta's voice and the climate crisis parts. However, if you're interested in celebrities, Malena Ernman, or opera, you might find it really interesting.

Then we move into their family crisis. This interested me more, although I would have preferred to read about it more from Greta and Beata's perspective. I find that when I read parents talking about their childrens' breakdowns I feel slightly voyeuristic. At first I was worried, because it felt like a typical autistic child narrative, with quotes like 'she was slowly disappearing into some kind of darkness' and 'we would have to find the way back to Greta'. However, as the book progressed I felt like overall it had a positive outlook on neurodiversity, without minimising the problems that being autistic in a neurotypical world can cause. Neurodivergent people are the future. We are at the forefront of things like science and research and tech, often because of special interests and intense focus. ASD is often used to discredit people, and I have seen posts online attacking Greta because she is autistic, but it is often the reason why people are so good at what they do. It is because of disability, not despite it. The links between autism and eating disorders were also interesting to read about and not something that I often see being discussed. There are also some very valid points about diagnosis, gatekeeping and access to support. I found Beata's journey to a diagnosis and support particularly telling of the issues in the medical system when it comes to supporting neurodivergent children. I do want to note that, for anyone who has an eating disorder, this book may be triggering as food amounts, eating disorder behaviours and weight numbers are mentioned at times.

Once the book finally starts talking about the climate crisis there are plenty of interesting facts and figures. I found these parts of the book more interesting. The book details exactly how Greta became a climate activist, and her journey to starting her school strike for the climate. I found her journey fascinating, and incredibly inspiring.

Sometimes this book doesn't feel particularly well written; lot of the sentences feel quite disjointed. I'm unsure if this is due to it originally being written in Swedish, and is something to do with the tranlation/rewrite into English, or if the original is also a bit disjointed. There is actually a chapter that appears to be written by Greta which flows a lot better. I'd recommend her book of speeches if people are interested. If the writing was a bit more polished and there was a little less about Malena's musical career at the beginning of the book I would probably bump this up to 4.5 stars. ( )

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2020/11/2020137-our-house-is-on-fire-malena.html ( )

Mycket läsvärd! ( )

Interesting family autobiography, largely from Greta's mother Malena (a celebrity in her own right in Sweden as an ex-Opera singer). Learning the full background to Greta Thunberg's rise to international prominence is made all the more amazing considering her struggles with Asperger's Syndrome made her almost mute and virtually unable to eat not long before her school climate strike in Sweden.

The more didactic elements discussing the climate crisis are enlightening but didn't really feel like they fitted in well with the rest of the somewhat fragmentary book. ( )

With this book, written mostly by her mother, the story expands beyond Greta Thunberg, that fifteen-year-old teenager who captured the world’s attention with her school strike in front of the Swedish Parliament over our planet’s climate crisis. Many of her speeches and statements were collected in Greta’s book, No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference, and now we learn more about her and her family’s story. The family unit is made of Greta and her dad, Avante Thunberg, and her mother and sister, Malena and Beata Ernman.
When Greta was only eight, she suddenly lost more than twenty pounds in a couple of months. By eleven, it was obvious that she had several problems, as she stopped most all eating or speaking. As her parents searched for a solution, it became clear that Greta was extremely stressed about the rapidly rising temperatures all over the planet. An entire community of medical professionals probed and tested her, and eventually she was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and selective mutism. As she put it in an early speech, she only spoke when it was necessary.
As a high-functioning Asperger’s syndrome person, Greta tends to see the world’s climate crisis as a very black and white situation, simply put, it’s an existential crisis—one you’re either doing everything you can about or you’re part of the problem. This B&W view, combined with her intelligence and age, made her a very powerful and clear voice to many people on the climate crisis.
At first, her parents didn’t support her activism, as it meant she was missing classes. Her mother started out extremely concerned and an activist for her daughter’s health, only to later join her daughter as a climate activist, because she knew that it meant so much to her. Malena had been a world-class opera singer, but gave up most of her career when Greta wanted the family to reduce their carbon footprint by becoming vegan, upcycling, and giving up all air travel. Her sister, Beata, also had a number of problems that concerned her parents for years. These parents are able and very willing to do so much for their very unique children.
Greta’s activism was came about after she observed the student efforts concerning gun control in the United States, after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and the subsequent March for Our Lives. When she first thought of her school strike, she felt that her classmates would join her, but it wasn’t until she started getting attention online from her social media postings and news coverage, that they and others joined her.
The book is broken into short, easily digestible sections, and this family’s story of dedication is so unique and fascinating that it’s a compelling read. It’s incredibly moving to get a sense of how much Greta cares about the climate crisis, and also how the usual rhetorical responses quickly collapses in front of her unforgiving logic. Hell, it’s our only planet. ( )