There’s no doubt about it—plastic is in almost everything. From our phones and computers to our toys and utensils, plastic is everywhere. But the amount of plastic we throw away is hurting the health of our planet.

With The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics, readers will be fascinated as they learn about the growing plastic problem and meet just a few of the young activists who are standing up and speaking out for change. 

You’ll hear about the “Be Straw Free” campaign, started by nine-year-old Milo Cress.
You’ll discover how scientists are using jellyfish snot and munching, crunching caterpillars to break down plastic pollution faster.
You’ll meet Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz López, the eight-year-old girl turning old plastic bottles into solar heaters.

And there are many more incredible kids here, not much older than our readers, who will inspire us all to change the way we think about plastic! (Source)

Author(s): Susan Hood & Christiane Engel

Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many picture books for young readers, including THE LAST STRAW: Kids vs. Plastics; ADA’S VIOLIN; SHAKING THINGS UP: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World; and TITAN AND THE WILD BOARS: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team. Susan is the recipient of the E.B. White Honor Award, the Christopher Award, the Américas Award, the International Latino Award, and the Bank Street Flora Steiglitz Straus Award, given to “a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people.” In 2018, Susan published her first middle grade novel LIFEBOAT 12, which won the 2019 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for middle grade fiction and is now nominated for many state awards (Source).

Christiane Engel loves writing and illustrating, especially for children and young people! She has illustrated over 50 children’s books so far and also creates art for magazines, advertising, book covers, and kids’ products. Her work is created digitally but she uses traditional media like acrylic paint as well and brings it all together on her computer. Projects that she particularly enjoys working on shares an inclusive, mindful and environmentally conscious view of the world. She likes her illustrations to look playful and free-spirited, and hope that kids of all ages will enjoy them! Christiane grew up in Germany, and now lives by the sea in Kent, England (Source).