Jazz thinks she and her friends are up for the challenge of a robotics competitionâbut are they? Will they get going when the going gets tough? Will they get the support they need? And what can they do when parts start going missing? Join Jazz and her friends, Scottie, Theo, and Esther as they take on this new adventure!
Jazz thinks she and her friends are up for the challenge of a robotics competitionâbut are they? Will they get going when the going gets tough? Will they get the support they need? And what can they do when parts start going missing? Join Jazz and her friends, Scottie, Theo, and Esther as they take on this new adventure!
Jazz practically sprinted all the way home, her long, jet-black hair flying out behind her. The cool September air that flowed over her dark skin as she ran felt good on her flushed cheeks. âGrrrr,â she said, scowling at a squirrel that scolded her as she ran by its tree. She was so angry! This wasnât new for Jazz. Anyone who knew herâher parents, her family, her friendsâstayed clear when Jazz was in such a mood. It didnât normally, however, happen at school. Jazz loved school! But, Joey Danfriedâthat guy could get anyone going with that smug expression on his face and that lazy, mocking tone of his. âJust you wait, Joey Danfried,â Jazz repeated out loud for the fourth time since she had raced out of school.
Jazz and Joey were Grade 9 students at Stella Hudson High School. Stella Hudson had been an astronaut on one of the Soyuz flights in 2012, and now often visited the school named after her. Captain Hudson was the best person Jazz knew, and always made time for Jazz and her friends when she dropped by the school. Jazzâs friends were like sistersâbut better! They knew absolutely everything about each other. They also had two unwritten rules: they kept no secrets from each other, and any secrets between them stayed between them.
Joey had been in her class for as long as Jazz could remember. He had an impish smile that never left his face, and tight curly brown hair that was unruly but suited him perfectly. When Jazz pictured Joey, sheâd always seen him as smaller than her, but this year, when theyâd returned from summer holidays, Jazz realized he was now taller than even her best friend, Scottie! Joey and his best friends were always building something or playing something. Each of them probably had more trophies in their rooms than everyone in the school added altogether! But Joey still couldnât resist teasing her and her friends whenever he got close by them.
Scottieâs house was on her way home, which helped to speed up Jazzâs plan. She ran up the short front walk and pushed impatiently at the bell. The yard was neglected. The grass was too long, the bushes struggled to stay green, and the steps to the front door had been cracked by weeds pushing through the concrete. Scottieâs dad was an inventor. Totally focused on any current project he had on the go left no time for yardwork.
Jazzâs best friendâeverâwas Geraldine Scott, or Scottie to everyone. Scottie was an only child, and therefore loved going to Jazzâs house with all the commotion and chaos of a big family. Mrs. Banerjee always had food out for them, and if there was one thing Scottie loved it was foodâespecially the exotic Indian food she had at the Banerjees. Scottie brought diversity to the Banerjee householdâone freckled, curly redhead in a sea of straight, jet-black hair. And Scottie was actually taller than everyone in the Banerjee house! Jazz said they complemented each other as Jazz saw what happened close to the ground, while Scottie saw what went on above their heads.
Scottie finally opened the tired and peeling front door to a winded Jazz, huffing and puffing and growling at the same time. âWhatâs up?â said Scottie, concern in her voice.
âIâll tell you at my place,â wheezed Jazz. âCall the others and meet me at my house in 20 minutes!â And then she turned on her heel, leapt down the stairs and ran back out to the sidewalk.
Oh boy, thought Scottie as she watched her friend sprint down the street, a streak of purple and orange. Jazz liked bright, bold coloursâfor her clothes, her binders, her phone, her bedroom. Bold colours were everywhere in Jazzâs world, matching colours not so much! âSomething sure has her riled up!â
Scottie quickly called Theo and Esther. Theodora Paulozza and Esther Kowalski had been friends since kindergarten. When theyâd moved to middle school after Grade 5, they met Scottie and Jazz. Since then the four girls had been inseparable. Every Friday night they held sleepovers, always rotating houses. This week, the sleepover was supposed to be at Scottieâs, but when Jazz was in a mood like this it was always best just to say âOkay!â So Scottie, Theo, and Esther headed over to Jazzâs house for the night.
Scottie smiled at her friends as they walked down the sidewalk together, kicking at the red, orange, and yellow leaves that had started falling as it got closer to Thanksgiving. Theo had the same beautiful olive skin as her mother and the same thick dark hair. She loved reading about celebrities and was their very own Internet search engine for anything Hollywood. Theo dressed bohemian, layering clothes on her solid shape as expertly as an artist layers colour. Today, she wore a short blue skirt over black leggings tucked into short black ankle boots. The small heel added some height to her short frame. The white and blue striped shirt hung loosely over the skirt, and covered all except the high turtleneck of the navy sweater underneath.
Esther was the only blonde in the group. She wore her hair in a loose ponytail that almost touched her waist. Esther was a pack rat. She never went anywhere without a fully loaded backpack, which bounced heavily up and down on her back as they rushed over to Jazzâs house. Esther usually wore loose fitting jeans, a big belt, and a denim shirt, and today was no different. The jeans, however, were new, and so the three friends talked about the big sale at Old Navy as they strode down the street. Theoâs arms were waving. Scottieâs face was flushed, and Estherâs giggle kept rising to the surface of their non-stop chatter.
Mrs. Banerjee watched them as they came down the street. Jazz, or Jasmine Banerjee, was a second generation Canadian as her parents had come from India. Mr. and Mrs. Banerjee had met in Canada, fell in love, married, and had five children. With two boys before Jazz and two girls after Jazz, Mrs. Banerjee thought she had seen it all. But she shook her head as she looked out the window at Jazzâs friendsâthey had enough energy for thirty girls!
Before they could walk up the front steps, Jazz had whipped open the front door and hustled them inside. After a quick hello to Mrs. Banerjee, they fled downstairs to the basement. The basement wasnât finished, but Mr. and Mrs. Banerjee had permitted the girls to set up an area to use as their own space.
The girls had chosen the section at the bottom of the stairs, setting up an old couch against the wall of the crawl space. Estherâs dad had a cousin who delivered furniture for a large store in town, and he had brought them the old couch, which was being replaced. Theo enjoyed sewing; sheâd been the best one in their Grade 8 Home Economics class. She had made a nice cover for the couch from the flowery drapes that Scottieâs mom had finally been able to replace in their living room. It was Theoâs belief that you could never have enough flowers in your world!
Estherâs next door neighbour had held a garage sale in the summer, and theyâd gotten a coffee table and an end table for five dollars. Sitting on the end table was a yellow bowl that Mrs. Banerjee had given them. The pot pourri in the bowl made the basement smell less like a basement.
The floor lamp had been donated by Jazzâs older brother, who only used it when he was home from university. And they had borrowed the rocking chair from the corner of the basement, where it had rested for the last eight years since Jazzâs youngest sister was born.
There was also an oriental rug and a blue bean bag chair. The chair just seemed to arrive, and no one wanted to take credit for it. It was, however, the seat that everyone ended up fighting over!
Each of them flopped into a seat. Jazz got the bean bag chair, because no oneâand I mean no oneâwanted to challenge her today.
With a âHmphhhh,â Jazz began. âI was going to Science class from English class. In the science hallway, I was blocked by Joey, as usual. That idiot always has something to say when I go by. I thought he was going to ask about my grade on the Math test. I already knew heâd gotten 100%, but I thought Iâd outsmarted him this time. Iâd asked Mr. Weirzba if I could earn a bonus mark on something else. And I got it! I couldnât wait to see Joeyâs face!â Jazz smiled thinking about itâbut now it wasnât going to happen! âIt turns out that Joey wanted to brag about his entry into the Robot Competition sponsored by the school board. Whoop-di-do!
âBut then, Joey looked me in the eye and asked, âWhat will the girls be doing while we build the winning robot?ââ
There was silence in the basement. Not one of the girls dared to breathe. Joey couldnât have poked the bear more if heâd tried. Jazz opened and closed her mouth five timesâFIVEâbefore she finally exploded, âCan you believe that guy?!â
Everyone kept their eyes down, answering âNoâ in very low mumbles.
âWeâll show him! Iâm going to enter us into the Robot Competition, and weâre going to win! Whoâs with me?â Jazz stared at each one of them for just a little longer than was comfortable.
Finally, each one said âMeâ hesitantly.
Then Theo, who was always the bravest with Jazz, said tentatively, âDo any of us know anything about building a robot?â
Jazz stood up, put her hands on her hips, and stared them down. âWhen the going gets tough, the tough get going!â This was Jazzâs favourite quote. She loved popular quotes and really liked to discover where they came from. This one could not be traced with absolute certainty, but Jazz used it every time the girls were unsure of themselves. It was their rally cry! âWeâll just have to figure out about robots. If Joey Danfried can build one, then so can we!â
I got my bachelor's degree in Computer Information Technology and as a Tech nerd I can say that this was a healthy approach at inspiration for girls wanting to go into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields.
The girls' backgrounds were diverse, automatically making it easy to connect with one or all of them. I enjoyed each of their unique personalities. They were adventurous and ready to try something new, no matter what other people said. And sadly, in real life, people do say hurtful things about people (women and men alike) working in these areas.
I especially appreciated that the girls faced down their problems together, and included adults in their thinking process. They didn't just go after the thief stealing their robot parts themselves, they got a teacher involved. This is very important for kids and teens to learn that they are not alone. I was glad the author even addressed how many adults were willing and ready to help them when they wrote about their "support network". Not every child has that kind of support system, but they can look to their teachers and mentors for guidance in that respect.
There wasn't anything I didn't enjoy about this book, honestly. It was well written, the descriptions were great, the references to technology, coding and engineering were all spot on. The author is working in a STEM related field so this makes a lot of sense. But it wasn't the boring talk about these areas, it was all upbeat and exciting. She even included sources of where to get training on some of the problems they had.
Finally, it was great to see a book that didn't revolve around drama. It focused on the goal. Yes there were moments of emotional stress (who doesn't have that in the real world) but it showed the girls getting through it. Because like Jazz says in the book, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!"