Greta Thunberg's Speeches to Be Published as a Collection

16-year-old Swedish girl Greta Thunberg has recently made international headlines as she’s spearheaded a movement which has seen school children around the globe strike from school in an effort to make their concerns heard regarding climate change. The young activist has since given speeches in other countries, most recently in the UK where she addressed parliament in April. It has since been announced that the publisher Penguin is will release a collection of Thunberg’s speeches in a book set to be released later this year.

Entitled No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, the book will include 11 of Thunberg’s most powerful speeches, all of which were written by her. As The Guardian reports, during her most recent speech which she gave to Parliament in the UK, she said: “My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 16 years old. I come from Sweden. And I speak on behalf of future generations,” the Nobel peace prize nominee continued, “We children are not sacrificing our education and our childhood for you to tell us what you consider is politically possible in the society that you have created … We children are doing this to wake the adults up. We children are doing this for you to put your differences aside and start acting as you would in a crisis. We children are doing this because we want our hopes and dreams back.”

The book’s title is taken from a speech Thunberg made at the COP24 UN climate talks. Penguin has described the young activist as “the voice of a generation facing the full force of climate catastrophe … quiet, angry and unafraid, speaking truth to power.” The book will be published on June 6 for £2.99 and all proceeds will go to charity.

Penguin is also publishing another book related to Greta Thunberg. Called Scenes From the Heart, it is a memoir written jointly her mother, the opera singer Malena Ernman, her sister Beata Ernman, her father Svante Thunberg and Greta herself. Penguin’s commissioning editor Chloe Currens said of the upcoming book: “It will be the story of the family and how they have been able to support Greta,” Greta Thunberg was diagnosed with Asperger’s and selective mutism “a few years ago and rather than railing against that and trying to make her ‘normal’, they chose to support her when she said she wanted to do something about climate change.” All proceeds from that book will also go to charity.

Currens said Thunberg has “already galvanised millions of children and adults around the world, and she’s only just getting started.”

“She calls for change at the highest level – and because her message is so urgent, and so essential, we are working to make it available to as many readers as we can, as quickly as we possibly can. This little book will document an extraordinary, unprecedented moment in our history, and invite you to join in the fight for climate justice: to wake up, spread the word, and make a difference.”

Currens said there will be no forward or introduction to the speeches, “We want to facilitate her voice, not interfere as publishers. She is an incredibly clear-eyed child, speaking to adults … This is an invitation to get up and join in. There is hope in these pages, not just doom and gloom.”

Penguin was asked about the environmental sustainability of producing a physical book of Greta’s speeches, to which the publisher replied that it would be printing all of its books on “FSC certified paper, one of the greenest possible options” by 2020. This follows the recent news that Penguin will also be publishing an Extinction Rebellion anthology.

“There is of course more we need to do help combat the climate crisis, and we are committed to supporting Greta Thunberg’s efforts to spread this message far and wide,” it said.