Non-Fiction — Review

Let’s Clear the Air
10 Reasons Not to Start Smoking

Let’s Clear the Air: 
10 Reasons Not to Start Smoking
illustrated by Deanna Staffo
Lobster Press, 2007
ISBN 978-1-897073-66-7
$16.95, 192 pp, b/w illustrations, ages 9 – 14
www.lobsterpress.com

What do I think about smoking? Smoking is bad for you! Smoking is bad for you! Smoking is bad for you! End of story. These are the words of 12-year-old Margaret, who along with other young people aged nine to fourteen tell their stories and reasons for why they will never start smoking in Let’s Clear the Air. This is a powerful collection of writings, and not at all preachy, because the over forty young people who contributed to this book are sharing personal information from their lives—not hypothetical or theoretical reasons, but real experiences. Adrienne explains that she will never smoke because her dad died of lung cancer when she was seven. Aanchal’s grandmother got tongue cancer from secondhand smoke. Bianca says, If your friends say you’re not cool or are a chicken, change friends because no friend is worth it, and goes on to list her ten reasons never to start smoking. It is hard to believe that today, when we know so much about the terrible effects of smoking on people’s health, that people still choose to smoke, and that society as a whole tolerates the production of such a senseless, harmful product. But they do and we do, and so books like this are needed to counteract the still prevalent perception that smoking is cool. The stories are organized into ten chapters, each dealing with one reason to not smoke (e.g., illness, addiction, sports performance, cost, physical appearance, etc.) with supporting sidebars, “Fast Facts,” comments from celebrities and illustrations. The book could be used as the basis of a ten-week course, with the teacher reading aloud parts of each chapter to begin discussion and then making the book available for students to read in between sessions. Or buy multiple copies and set up small groups to read and research each chapter and present what they learned to the class. Because it is in the words of young people, and the information is graphically presented with young readers in mind, this is a very useful resource for elementary and middle schools.

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