Gr 3--8--Plastic pollution is a global problem. Items as small as contact lenses, grocery bags, and microbeads in soaps contribute to the worldwide epidemic. This title highlights some of the ways people can eliminate or cut back on plastics, especially single-use items such as straws, disposable drink cups, water bottles, packaging, and Styrofoam containers. Interviews feature young entrepreneurs who have made an impact and emphasize how much these young advocates care about their causes. Milo Cress, a 19-year-old white American, created the "Be Straw Free" project. He is currently a spokesperson for reducing plastic waste. Angelina Arora, a 16-year-old Indian Australian girl, used shrimp shells to create a natural alternative for plastic bags. Ideas to reduce, recycle, and help eliminate plastic dependance are doable. "Try This!" suggestions are sprinkled throughout, including using cloth bags at the grocery store and bringing storage containers to a restaurant for leftovers. There are also familiar ideas for reusing plastics, such as creating a piggy bank out of a plastic bottle and repurposing old toys. The text offers a plethora of information about plastic, and photos fill the pages and reinforce the concepts explained in the prose. A lengthy index helps pinpoint precise information. VERDICT A win-win for everyone and a reminder that even small actions help protect the planet. Readers will walk away with ideas to recycle and eliminate plastics.--Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elem. Sch., San Antonio

In a world that's being "swamped by plastic," kids can help make change. This eye-catching title introduces the problem of plastic and its durability and offers its young readers suggestions and examples for helping to battle this aspect of the "global pollution crisis." The opening chapters explain the issue, the history of plastic, its long-lasting nature, and its threat to sea life. Three subsequent chapters provide examples from around the globe and offer readers ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics in their own locales. The author concludes with some potential solutions. The lively, busy design features text set on double-page spreads illustrated with large photos as well as photo collages. (Eight spreads must be turned sideways to view.) Further facts are set off in small boxes and other shapes. There are familiar comparisons, such as weight measured in units of school buses; interviews with "Planet Protectors," often teen activists, and National Geographic explorers; maps; and photographs of people from all over the world (mostly light-skinned). "Take action" boxes feature concrete suggestions: Don't flush your contact lenses; do carry a reusable straw. "Try this" projects range from "I Spy" photo challenges to directions for craft projects. National Geographic adds this print title to its extensive online collection of "Kids vs. Plastic" links: videos, project suggestions, and teacher resources, many of which use the same material. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.9-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 86.5% of actual size.) Familiar content in a new package designed for preteen readers. (index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Aimed at moving kids from complacency into action, this brightly illustrated book looks at the environmental problems created by plastics in our world, particularly its oceans, and suggests ways that kids can make a difference. At intervals, Beer profiles "Planet Protectors," adults and kids who have made a difference, such as Milo Cress, who started the nationwide Be Straw Free project a decade ago as a nine-year-old. Not completely antiplastic, the book includes a two-page spread pointing out some worthwhile uses of the material, such as airbags, bike helmets, and contact lenses. Among fun features, such as craft projects and "I Spy Plastic" photo challenges, is a personality quiz that pairs readers with marine animals they might like to support and explains why they're "a match." The last chapter introduces some promising, biodegradable materials that may replace plastics in some applications. Eye-catching photos and other colorful graphics dominate the pages, where paragraphs of text appear in rather small print. Though studded with interesting factoids and statistics, the book is better suited to browsers than students writing reports.