2015
WISE Score
Amazon
Ada Lovelace and Mary Shelley team up as kid detectives in a steampunk London where logic meets imagination and things get delightfully weird.
4.5
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This is basically Sherlock Holmes for the 'girls in STEM' era, but it actually works because it's a good story first and a 'lesson' second. It doesn't lecture; it just lets these two geniuses be messy, smart, and adventurous.
It’s 2015-era writing, so it moves at a modern clip and doesn't suffer from the 'boring classic' syndrome. If your kid likes puzzles, history, or just watching two smart girls outwit a bunch of adults, this is an easy addition to the bookshelf.
Perfect for the 8-12 crowd. It’s a great 'step up' for kids who finished Enola Holmes or The Mysterious Benedict Society and want something with a bit more intellectual bite.
The core of the book is a functional, if prickly, friendship between two girls with opposite worldviews—one driven by cold logic and the other by emotion and storytelling. It models intellectual curiosity and teamwork without being saccharine.
It’s a clever 'what if' scenario that smashes together Ada Lovelace and Mary Shelley in a steampunk-adjacent 1826 London. The world-building is creative, reimagining historical figures in a way that feels fresh rather than dusty.
Standard middle-grade mystery fare. There's some mild 'peril' involving a chase and a visit to a 19th-century prison, but nothing that would shock or upset a typical 8-year-old. No language or content issues to flag.
It’s a stealth-education win. Kids pick up on logic, early computer science concepts (via Ada), and literary history without feeling like they're doing homework. It encourages girls to be weird, smart, and ambitious.
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