Ada Twist, Scientist, Book Review

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I generally groan when unsolicited items show up on my doorstep in hopes of a review, but I whooped with joy when I opened a large sturdy envelope to find an advance copy of Ada Twist, Scientist. Due out on September 6, 2016, It’s out and it’s currently on sale at Amazon for less than $12, though the cover price is $17.95

Ada Twist, Scientist

Ada Twist is the latest picture book about a STEM-loving kid from Andrea Beaty and David Roberts, the award-wining duo who brought us Rosie Revere, Engineer and Iggy Peck, Architect.

Ada Marie Twist’s first name is a nod to Ada Lovelace, the woman hailed as the first computer scientist. Her middle name is a shout-out to Marie Curie, the woman whose research on radium led to the invention of x-rays.

Cute story aside, I love that this book features a brown-skinned girl. Ada Marie Twist is an all-too-rare character in today’s picture book scene

This book is a must-buy for schools and libraries.

Which is not to say that you won’t want it for your home library.

Don’t Know Much about History (of Women Scientists)

I don’t know much about the early childhoods of Ada Lovelace of Marie Curie. Why? Because publishers don’t make picture books about them.

Oh look! This was published in the fall of 2015 (though it targets a slightly older audience).

And here’s a book about Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut. {sound of screeching car brakes} No, wait. It’s going to be published in the fall of 2016 (and is also for slightly older kids).

Okay, so there’s at least one book about Ada for kids, but I don’t know if it delves into her childhood the way that this book, Odd Boy Out, detailed the life of young Albert Einstein. When they were in preschool, my boys and I enjoyed picture books about young Thomas Edison and other famous men of science.

We need more books, more picture books, about notable women in STEM! One important way to prove to publishers that there is a viable market for such content is to buy books like Ada Twist.

But I’m getting carried away here. What I started to write was that I don’t know much about young Ada Lovelace or young Marie Curie, but little Ada Marie sounds an awful lot like Young Einstein and Young Edison. Ada Marie Twist is a late talker who’s always on the go and creates a lot of mischief.

When Ada finally talks, her first word is Why? And then it’s clear she didn’t create chaos for the sake of chaos. Rather, she was attempting to understand the hows and whys of life. The search of answers to Big Questions tends to get messy, no?

At any rate, parents of gifted or similarly curious kids will nod in recognition throughout this short book. Ah yes, it makes me almost teary-eyed thinking about the time my son came home from a pyrotechnics-themed science camp and tried to convince me and my husband that it was okay to make a bomb, as in a real-life explosive, in our backyard.  Curious kids are so dang cute!

Not to get all rant-y again, but as I read through my bomb post above, it referenced a 2013 incident about a Black girl who was expelled from her Florida high School for creating what appears to have been a curiosity-induced explosion. Remember the boy who brought a “clock bomb” to school? He received a trip to Space Camp, a shout-out from President Obama, and, I think, a trip to Facebook HQ. Let’s be like Ada Marie and talk about why he was lauded and explore how we make change for girls.

In the meantime, buying a book like Ada Twist, Scientist is a positive, if small, step in the right direction. Regardless of your family’s ethnic background or whether you have sons or daughters, nieces or nephews, buy this book. And when picture or early reader books about other famous women in STEM come on the market, buy those, too.

If you’re looking for books that feature multicultural characters, be sure to read my friend Thien-Kim’s Ultimate List of Diverse Books. She also runs a diversity reading challenge for adults.