DREAMING THROUGH HISTORY

In Kolomiychenko’s middle-grade novel, a contemporary Florida girl dream-travels to WWI-era Scotland and joins suffragettes in fighting for women’s rights.

Merida Aldham dreams she’s in a strange place, which turns out to be 1914 Glasgow. She shows up in the midst of a protest march in which Margaret “Maggie” MacFarlane leads women in chanting their demands: “Give us equal rights!” Merida’s teacher recently assigned a paper on women’s voting rights, and Merida, who has Scottish heritage, has been researching Scotland—so maybe that’s why she keeps reconnecting with Maggie each night. In her waking life, Merida and her classmates are shocked by the administration’s announcement of a new school uniform policy. Before it takes effect, the students, including Merida’s best friend, Ellie Jessop, protest. Merida comes up with a plan that entails more than waving signs—she negotiates with the principal and then agrees to his compromise: He’ll put the notion of school uniforms up for staff voting if students can go five days without a single dress code violation. Kolomiychenko’s story, which launches a series, is bountiful in educational value; readers will pick up compelling details about Scottish history and real-life suffragette Margaret MacFarlane. Merida is a superlative protagonist. She helps treat wounded soldiers in 1914, despite feeling faint from the intensity of the situation, and she meticulously plans her fight against the school uniform policy. All the while, her relationships with buoyant Maggie, charmingly rash Ellie, and her own doting mother are superbly developed. Other supporting characters, though, are left on the back burner, including Merida’s pal Brock, whom she may be secretly crushing on, and another friend named Aubrey who barely registers. Then again, sequels can further explore these bonds, along with the mysteries surrounding Merida’s vivid dream-traveling (how does the injury she received in a dream show up when she’s awake?).

A smashing young hero easily carries this historically rich tale.