DRAWING OUTSIDE THE LINES

This middle-grade historical novel imagines the origin story of an early female architect.

Eleven-year-old Julia Morgan loves buildings, bridges, and any type of structure. She marvels at how they’re designed and constructed and dreams of making her very own someday. But it’s 1883, and while her architect cousin is encouraging as they traverse the new Brooklyn Bridge together on a family vacation, Julia already knows her dreams have significant obstacles. After she returns to her hometown of Oakland, California, excels academically, and resists her mother’s attempts to make her a debutante, she encounters many challenges, including sexist classmates in her high school science track and familial pressures to court and eventually marry. Julia is eventually accepted at the nearby University of California at Berkeley. But though she is talented and determined to succeed, the times aren’t changing quickly enough. Still, Julia soldiers on, working harder than any of the men, and when a chance to study architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which has previously only admitted men, arises, the young woman debates whether to settle into post-college life or take the ultimate chance for her future. Author and educator Austin claims that not much is known about the real Julia Morgan’s childhood and adolescence, though the adult Morgan is a well-known historical figure who established her own architecture firm and became the first woman to be admitted to and graduate from the École des Beaux-Arts. Though Morgan was a private person, according to the author, Austin uses extensive research, including the expertise of a Julia Morgan scholar, to craft an inspiring origin story ideal for young readers. Real-life events—like the 1893 Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World’s Fair, which featured the first Ferris wheel as well as architecture by Sophia Hayden)—play out through Julia’s eyes, and real-life figures (Gertrude Stein, William Randolph Hearst, Pierre LeBrun) make pivotal appearances.

Thoroughly researched and sweetly written.