The Amazing Power of Girls: Meet the Universe’s Most Powerful and Invisible Forces

Girls can do anything they put their minds to, but they’re often deterred from pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Maria Marianayagam and Skylar White aim to change this trend in The Amazing Power of Girls: Meet the Universe’s Most Powerful and Invincible Forces. The immense power of girls is explained through the science behind gravity, buoyancy, high friction, and magnetism. Each force emphasizes what girls can achieve: holding space through gravity, resilient like buoyancy, moving forward and resisting like high friction, and pushing, pulling together, and repelling to create change.

Through short, rhyming verse, readers are introduced to what gravity, buoyancy, high friction, and magnetism do and the abilities and power girls share with each force. Full-colour, full-page illustrations show girls engaged in a variety of activities, including construction, science, music, and play. The colour drawings depicting girls of different ethnicities and abilities and the verse written in first person make it easy for any girl to see herself accomplishing anything she puts her mind to.

Following the rhyming verse, detailed definitions of gravity, buoyancy, friction, magnetism, tension, nuclear, spring, and applied are provided to help readers better understand the forces and how they work. Each definition, accompanied by a small illustration, is half a page long. The dense text of the definitions is at a higher reading level and is a stark contrast to the playful and engaging pages that precede it. The definitions, as well as the complex language of the author’s note to readers, could frustrate readers. However, these sections are a good resource for teachers and any adult reading along who may want additional information to share with their young readers. A short bibliography of additional resources is also provided for adults.

The Amazing Power of Girls: Meet the Universe’s Most Powerful and Invincible Forces is an energy-filled read that will engage and inspire readers and help them see the potential in themselves and others.