Sixth grader Nina (who happens to have two moms) is a robotics whiz and excited about joining the robotics club now that she’s at Ada Lovelace Middle School. She’s not sure why her friend Zoe has been acting so distant, though. Luckily, Nina’s new best friend Maya is gearing up for the race to become class representative, and asked Nina to be her campaign manager.
When Nina uses one of her robots to spy on Maya’s opponent Kai, however, the girls get detention, where the teacher assigns them the task of writing letters to women from history. Nina writes to Cleopatra, and after she’s done, tucks her letter into an old mailbox that she and Maya find in the woods.
A giant papyrus later appears at Nina’s house, apparently from Cleopatra herself. Have the girls really stumbled upon a way to communicate across time? Should they take Cleopatra’s advice in order to help Maya win the election? And can Nina patch her frayed relationship with Zoe?
The story, published by the Rebel Girls media company, leans into themes of girls’ and women’s empowerment, sprinkling in information about famous women throughout history and about STEM learning. A few passages feel somewhat pedantic and forced, as when Kai says, “Am I supposed to think women in history aren’t important because I’m a guy or something? That’s not cool,” or when Maya says that her mom is a “law, jurisprudence, and social thought professor,” when “law professor” is probably all that middle grade readers will understand. Nevertheless, the intent is admirable and there are good lessons here.
The fact that Nina has two moms is incidental to the plot, which is great, as not all LGBTQ-inclusive stories need to be “about” being LGBTQ. One teacher at the school also uses they/them pronouns, which is again seamlessly accepted. A subplot about Nina’s moms’ marital troubles, however, could maybe have shown more depth—but the focus here is on the kids’ adventures and learnings, not on family relationships. Overall, it’s a light-hearted romp with inspiring messages and lots of tidbits to spark readers’ real-life explorations.
Nina is Black, Maya Latina, and Zoe White. Kai is Asian.
