Goldie Blox and the Three Dares

Reviewed by: Sarah Cropley - Scarborough Public Library, Scarborough, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: March 20, 2018

Review

Goldie Blox is a chapter book based on the game of the same name. Goldie and her friends make up the Gearheads, a group of kids who use science and technology to calculate, engineer, construct, and test inventions. In this novel, Goldie finds the diary left by her late grandmother who wanted to accomplish all 100 dares by her 77th birthday, a date that is only 3 days away. Through a series of adventures and misadventures, Goldie and her friends succeed at the dares just in time. It is refreshing to see a book many female characters interested in STEM subjects. Besides the titular Goldie, two of the other three Gearheads are girls. The Goldie Blox series also pursues diversity with the Gearheads being composed of Goldie, a white, blonde girl; Li, an unspecific Asian boy; Val, a Latina girl; and Ruby, a black girl. The concept and design of the book are both excellent, however the writing and characterization of the stories feels stilted. Goldie isn't particularly likable, as she often goes too far in the pursuit of her inventions and has underwhelming consequences. Additionally, Goldie's inventions are beyond the scope of readers and glossed over in a way that makes them feel more like magic than science. Turn to Ellie Engineer for a better STEM themed chapter book starring girls.

Overall Book Score: good