The Day the River Caught Fire: How the Cuyahoga River Exploded and Ignited the Earth Day Movement by Barry Wittenstein

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Day the River Caught Fire: How the Cuyahoga River Exploded and Ignited the Earth Day Movement by Barry Wittenstein Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor Wittenstein, Barry The Day the River Caught Fire: How the Cuyahoga River Exploded and Ignited the Earth Day Movement; illus. by Jessie Hartland. Wiseman/Simon, 2023 [48p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781534480834 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781534480841 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys Ad Gr. 2-4 When the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, Cleveland residents were surprisingly unconcerned. “It burned before, people said. It’ll burn again.” The river’s toxic soup of chemicals, oils, and other waste had caught fire thirteen times since 1886, but for Cleveland mayor Carl Stokes, this time was different. In fact, water and air pollution was inspiring environmentalist activism across the country, and Stokes was one of many concerned citizens and experts whose testimony before Congress eventually led to the Clean Air and Water Acts. Earth Day was also born in the aftermath of the fire, in 1970, and eventually became a global movement with people urging corporate and political action to combat pollution and climate change. Centering this exploration of environmentalism on the river provides an accessible entry point to young readers, but that focus never quite allows for the full contextualization of the event within the movement’s arc, nor does it offer one major throughline to connect other events and developments. Mayor Stokes’ contributions, for example, are glossed over soon after he’s introduced, and both Senator Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes, considered to be the architects of Earth Day, are relegated to the back matter. Wittenstein does highlight, however, the fact that citizen action did work in this case and that the Cuyahoga River is in much better shape today, with cleaner water and the return of forty different fish species. Illustrations rendered in gouache give depth to river scenes, and palette choice effectively conveys the river’s polluted mess and then its clearer waters. Backmatter includes an author’s note, a timeline, more resources, and a bibliography. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois