FINNEY AND THE SECRET TUNNEL

In Barber’s middle-grade series starter,a tween girl gets caught up in an adventure involving science, technology, engineering, and math.

Twelve-year-old Finney Brown doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. Her teachers often reprimand her for being fidgety and distracted, even though she loves learning and is one of the smartest kids in her class. Her eccentric math teacher, Jane Swindell, is the only person who seems to understand her. One day, Ms. Swindell enters her classroom’s supply closet and never re-emerges. When Finney and her best friend, Erika, investigate the strange vanishing, they find a secret door in the closet and a note from their teacher stating, “If you’re reading this note, I’ve disappeared and I’m counting on you to find me. You’ll have to function without me and follow the sequence. Be careful. There may be those on their way to harm you.” The stakes are high, according to the note, and it turns out that Ms. Swindell is part of a secret society called the Mathmysterians. They’re tasked with protecting Albert Einstein’s hidden legacy from falling into the hands of the Order, which wants to use his theories for their own ill ends. Barber’s book lays out an adventure that gives Finney the chance to not only impress her teacher, but also emulate her scientist and mathematician heroes. It’s packed with puzzles that fans of Trenton Lee Stewart’s middle-grade bestseller The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007) are sure to love, and its action sequences are reminiscent of the Indiana Jones franchise, but scaled down for the relatable young protagonist and her pals. The complications surrounding who Finney can trust at any given moment will keep readers on their toes. Although the premise behind Einstein’s secrets may stretch readers’ suspension of disbelief, it functions successfully as the story’s cornerstone.

An exciting middle-grade debut for puzzle lovers and math aficionados.