Trajectory by Cambria Gordon - OPTIONAL

Trajectory by Cambria Gordon, 304 pages. Scholastic, 2024. $20

Language:  (25 swears, 4  “f”); Mature Content: G; Violence: G

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SOME

17yo Eleanor is worried about her Jewish relatives who are still living in Europe as Hitler is trying to take over the continent. She has been hiding her math skills, but someone in the army finds out anyway and she takes the offer when they recruit her for a secret project. First she works with other women in the Computing Corps, but then she heads alone into a California desert army base, where her skills are needed for a top secret project - creating a new bombsight for more efficient killing. She encounters prejudice against her, casual cruelty towards her Black coworkers, and racism.  

Gordon tries to make a single-POV look at the importance of math to WWII efforts, but Eleanor needs more support and opportunities for drama to make this really appealing.  I would point math students interested in WWII at Candace Fleming’s Enigma Girls instead. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS