Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

Freinkel's tour of the history of plastic, as told through the stories of common, everyday items, benefits from Pam Ward's cheery and conversational narration. Exploring a material that dominates millions of lives, the author selects a handful of particularly familiar plastic objects%E2%80%94combs and credit cards, for example%E2%80%94and describes their development, design, and prevalence. Ward captures the spirit of Freinkel's prose, reading casually, even as she relates the environmental side effects of our collective addiction to plastic. A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover. (Apr.)