Author: Rie Neal
Age range: middle grade
Genre: realistic fiction
Similar book: Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee
Summary (provided by publisher): Curious ten-year-old Saffron Speiser-Green loves science—unfortunately, her “experiments” tend to end in more messes than actual answers. (Just ask the broken alarm clock that’s still at the bottom of her backpack.) Saffron has a plan, though—a blue ribbon in her school’s Project Showcase will show the world she means business.
But when Saffron’s beloved volcano project ruins the walls at Mama’s job and gets her fired, Saffron will do anything to make things right—including helping Mama convince her other mom, Mimi, that they should move to the Silicon Valley to run Gran’s coffee shop. Mama’s dream job is worth giving up the blue ribbon. Right?
Luckily for Saffron, her new friends in the Silicon Valley are busy preparing for a STEM Expo, and Saffron is determined to find a project “smart” enough to show everyone she belongs there. But the coffee shop? No customers, no vision, and…tons of debt. And if it closes, Saffron’s family will have to move again. After a class trip to the STEAMology Museum in San Francisco, though, Saffron knows how to save the café—and what to do for her STEM Expo project. But she’s going to need a lot of help.
What I liked: Saffron is sort of the modern Ramona or Clementine. She's clever and creative but also impulsive to a degree that often gets her into trouble. She is, in short, realistic. And while Saffron is disabled, her hearing issues are not central to the plot. They inform some of her behavior but that's all. It's inclusive without being a capital I issue. It's a relatively quick and engaging read.
What I didn't like: The focus of the plot can be a bit scattered. And it lacks the humor that we often see in impulsive characters. There's not a lot of depth to the plot but it's accessible.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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