Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level

Gr 2–4—The second book in the series focuses on Ellie's struggle to be accepted. When Ellie and her friends help their elderly neighbor, Mrs. Curran, by fixing up her house, the older woman believes that Toby, not Ellie, is responsible for the engineering and building. Ellie and her friends work to convince Mrs. Curran that girls can be engineers, too. The plot delves more deeply into gender stereotyping than the first installment, and the protagonist's frustrations are something with which many young girls will identify. Ellie is an intrepid problem-solver who knows who she is and what she loves to do. She is able to stand up for herself and, eventually, convince Mrs. Curran that girls and women can do and be anything. Illustrations of Ellie's creative ideas and designs are included as is as a guide to simple machines.