Justin Barker: Bear Boy

"And then a letter arrived in the mail. It was from a woman who had heard about my work to help zoo animals. She said, 'there's these two bears living in a cage in the town near my house. It's on a creek that floods every year. It's horrible conditions. I have no idea what to do. Can you help?'

I don't think she knew that I was a 13-year-old." – Justin Barker

Justin is an activist, a director, a producer, and the author of Bear Boy, The True Story of a Boy, Two Bears and the Fight to Be Free. When Justin was 13 years old, he started an organization called Citizens Lobbying for Animals in Zoos. And at 13, he created real change for captive animals, and not long after someone contacted him about two bears living in a wretched conditions in Northern California.

Justin spent the next three years fighting to save these bears. Although his book is a young adult novel, it is a book that I think everyone should read. Justin is an example and inspiration of how one person can create enormous impact. And the fact that that person was 13 years old is all the more compelling.