ALA Booklist (Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2019)

In 1883, the Inventor's Guild rules all scientific progress, and the upcoming World's Fair will showcase many new gadgets designed by the guild's members, including Edison, Tesla, and Bell. Molly Pepper's mother, Cassandra, hopes to grab a spot and impress the guild with her Icarus Chariot, a flying machine, and when her spot is given away to yet another man, Molly decides to break into the guild and do some minor "sabotage" to win her mother's spot back. Instead, she stumbles upon Bell's assistant, Emmett Lee, and discovers a plot to overtake humanity with evil robots at the World's Fair. The two team up with Cassandra to find proof that one of the world's beloved men of science and invention may actual be seeking to rule to world! Healy has created a steampunk-inspired alternative history featuring some of the greatest minds in invention (including a number of women) in this series opener. An author's note is included to help readers differentiate between fact and fiction in the story. A solid choice for adventurous readers.

Kirkus Reviews

An inventor's daughter must stop a plot targeting New York City's World's Fair in 1883.Molly Pepper and her widowed mother, Cassandra Pepper, both white, live in their pickle shop while Cassandra creates inventions in the back room. They want to debut Cassandra's flying machine at the 1883 World Fair, but the Inventor's Guild, which limits its membership to men, has taken all the exhibition spots. A madcap scheme to find a way into the fair results in an impromptu break-in at the guild's building, where Molly meets Chinese immigrant Emmett Lee—and where she discovers evidence that indicates that Alexander Graham Bell is scheming to attack the fair with a death machine! Molly and Cassandra conclude that the best way to get the attention that Cassandra and her inventions deserve is for them to become heroes by saving the fair, leading them on a ridiculous journey packed with chase scenes, red herrings, mobsters, monologue-prone villains, and inventions. Besides famous real-life male inventors, important female inventors, including African-American Sarah Goode, also appear, in a secret cabal with a punny (and inevitable) name. The humor ranges from clever wordplay to running gags and cartoonish slapstick. Weaving throughout the outlandish mystery and entertaining wackiness, period gender and racial discrimination experienced by women and Chinese people are mined for tension. Molly's unintentional microaggressions and Emmett's status in the face of the Chinese Exclusion Act are both timely elements.A zany, rollicking series opener. (author's note) (Historical fantasy. 8-14)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In this timely historical adventure set in 1883 New York City, a female duo attempts to break into a male-dominated field and stumbles across a fiendish plan concocted by a ruthless mad scientist. All that 12-year-old Molly Pepper wants is for her brilliant mother, Cassandra, to be accepted by the Inventors- Guild and its leaders-Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. While trying to secure themselves an exhibition space in the upcoming World-s Fair, Molly and Cassandra discover that Bell is plotting to destroy the city with a secret army of robotic death machines. With the help of Bell-s assistant, Emmett, the mother-daughter team joins up with the Mothers of Invention to thwart Bell-s (or is it Edison-s?) evil schemes. Plot twists and banter hit at breakneck speeds in this heartfelt yet tongue-in-cheek look at the tumultuous Age of Invention, and its focus on two often marginalized groups-immigrants and women-allows for relevant social commentary. While Healy (The Hero-s Guide series) takes a few liberties with history, his inclusion of real inventors may inspire further reading about their lives and contributions. Ages 8-12. Agent: Cheryl Pientka, Jill Grinberg Literary Management. (Sept.)

School Library Journal (Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Gr 4-6 The author of the "Hero's Guide" books offers the first in a new historical series trilogy focusing on the age of invention in the late 19th century. During that time, the world was in awe of Thomas Edison's electric light bulb and Alexander Graham Bell's telephone. Edison and Bell appear in the story alongside would-be inventors Cassandra Pepper and her 12-year-old daughter Molly, who create unique machines and gadgets in the back of their pickle store. Both are infuriated when their spot in the Inventor's Guild at the 1883 World's Fair in New York City is taken from them and instead awarded to a man. Frustrated, the duo breaks into the Inventor's Guild offices and happen upon what looks to be a "dastardly plot" to injure the thousands of people who will be attending the World's Fair. The author's appended notes comparing the facts and fiction of the story are valuable for historical context. VERDICT Readers who enjoy nonstop action will want to give this new series a try. Anne Jung-Mathews, Plymouth State University, NH