Microplastics—the broken down byproduct of plastic items we toss out every day—are choking our oceans. But middle-schooler Anna Du is on the case! Now a top science fair winner, Anna shares her account of how she went from worrying about the environment to designing award-winning solutions. Writing for kids her own age, Anna alerts her readers to the threat of microplastics pollution and urges them to care about the environment. She leads them through the frustrating-yet-rewarding process of design, engineering, and invention. This book could inspire a generation of inventors and engineers!
Industry Reviews
"Microplastics and Me may sound like nonfiction (indeed, it embraces many nonfiction elements, educating readers about microplastics and conservation), but it reads with the lively inspection of fiction and will reach grades 3-6 with its story of middle grader/author Anna Du's discovery of how she translated her environmental concerns into award-winning solutions. More than just another educational survey of conservation issues, this proactive, 'can do' model for conservation activism is essential reading for elementary to middle grade learners also concerned about environmental degradation. The first thing to note about Microplastics and Me is that it's narrated in the first person by the young author and includes a wealth of colorful photographs capturing not just issues, but her love of collecting sea glass on the beach in the lovely environment of the New England shoreline. These personal touches reflecting her fascination with the seaside's beauty adds a personal touch to the adventure, where a factual nonfiction account alone couldn't have translated this science personal connections with nature: "Every week, I came here to pick up sea glass and relax for a few hours. The sea gulls squawked, the waves lapped slowly on the sand, and the warm sea breeze drifted around. I loved how doing absolutely nothing allowed my thoughts to drift and calmed me down as I slowly dried off." By documenting the process of how she becomes personally involved in and committed to conservation and plastics recycling, Anna Du creates a winning, involving discussion that kids will readily understand because every conservation consideration is backed by personal experience and thoughts: "Walking briskly along the shore with Andy at my side, I picked up piece after piece of what looked like sea glass but was actually plastic. Even back at my pile of sea glass, I realized that some of the materials that I'd thought were sea glass... suddenly didn't look a lot like sea glass. Instead, they looked like even more pieces of plastic. I remembered a video on plastics that my school had shown us weeks before. The video displayed the life cycle of a piece of plastic--from its start in a factory to its end, either in a garbage can or in the ocean. We learned that the amount of plastics that have accumulated in the ocean is so great that there is a floating plastic island called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is larger than Texas. When I watched the school video about this problem, it had seemed so distant. After all, the Pacific Ocean was thousands of miles away. But now, all of a sudden, I could truly see how plastic waste affected me personally." It's the reinforcement of both this connection and Du's personal commitment to not just observing and learning, but problem-solving, that makes Microplastics and Me so extraordinary. The large-size, compelling color photos enhance a story that more than captures attention, injecting a wave of hope and activist opportunities into a subject that is typically approached via factual review, imparting a broad sense of hopelessness. Microplastics and Me is a highly recommended, unique standout in the world of children's conservation writing. Its young author's enthusiasm, research, and concrete science fair tips are extraordinarily helpful and hopeful for fellow would-be young conservationists." --Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review
