Jadie in Five Dimensions

August 15, 2021
While on an unexpected mission for the Seers, Agent Jadie Martin learns something about her past which puts her whole life in question. The Seers, all-powerful beings of the fourth dimension, use agents like 13-year-old Jadie for so-called course corrections that help keep Earth on track. Jadie, who presents White, was saved by the Seers when she was abandoned as a baby and was raised in the Martin family--White mom, Black dad, and brother Marius, who spoke Spanish when he was adopted. However, when she covers an assignment for a friend, she accidentally finds her birth family and learns how they suffered at the hands of the Seers, rocking her worldview. As Jadie and Ty, another young Agent, hack into the system to learn why her birth family was targeted for harsh treatment, they begin to wonder whether the Seers are simply using them like game pieces. The moral ramifications of the course corrections deftly knit together Jadie's origin story with wider events as chapters switch perspectives among Jadie, Ty, and Sam, Jadie's brother from her birth family. When rival Seers are introduced, the threat level to the entire universe skyrockets. Though the techno-speak is complex, the storyline is anchored by emotional themes of family, adoption, loyalty, and trust. Readers are invited to enter this imaginative world and consider the far-reaching possibilities. A thrilling ride through a multidimensional universe and high-stakes action. (Science fiction. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2021
Grades 4-8 Salerni's latest middle-grade novel is a mind-bending, multidimensional adventure that also takes a deep dive into geometry and physics. Jadie Martin, 13 years old, has always believed her parents abandoned her as a baby and that she was rescued by creatures from the fourth dimension. Jadie grows up with a loving human family who are also agents for the creatures, taking on assignments that they believe are for the good of Earth. When Jadie finds her birth parents by accident, she begins a quest to uncover the true intentions of these fourth-dimensional creatures and her role in all of it. Writing in multiple points of view, Salerni offers a page-turning adventure tale and adeptly breaks down the math and science elements behind multidimensional theory for middle-grade readers. The book also has heart, touching on the emotional lives of two adopted 13-year-olds and the true meaning of family. The emotional stakes and quirky physics of Salerni's story will make readers want to visit (or revisit) Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2021
Jadie Martin isn't your typical thirteen-year-old. In her spare time she hops out of three-dimensional space and reenters elsewhere to make tiny but consequential "course corrections" to the fate of humankind as ordered by the Seers, super-intelligent beings from a higher dimension. One day she comes across some startling information about the family who (supposedly) abandoned her as an infant before she was rescued by her adoptive parents. Jadie learns that, rather than rejecting her, her birth family loves her very much, but the Seers seem focused on orchestrating a string of bad luck for them far beyond what chance would dictate. Could the Seers have misled everyone about their true intentions? Inspired by Flatland, the 1884 novella by Edwin Abbott Abbott, which imagined two-dimensional beings encountering a three-dimensional shape, Salerni threads a healthy dose of theoretical physics through the plot line, which should please young sci-fi fans. Well-earned reversals in the developing action will keep less mathematically minded readers engaged, while refreshingly un-cliched characterization steers the narrative clear of tired tropes. While many middle-grade novels ask "What if...?" Jadie's adventures give the question real teeth. Anita L. Burkam

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2021
Jadie Martin isn't your typical thirteen-year-old. In her spare time she hops out of three-dimensional space and reenters elsewhere to make tiny but consequential "course corrections" to the fate of humankind as ordered by the Seers, super-intelligent beings from a higher dimension. One day she comes across some startling information about the family who (supposedly) abandoned her as an infant before she was rescued by her adoptive parents. Jadie learns that, rather than rejecting her, her birth family loves her very much, but the Seers seem focused on orchestrating a string of bad luck for them far beyond what chance would dictate. Could the Seers have misled everyone about their true intentions? Inspired by Flatland, the 1884 novella by Edwin Abbott Abbott, which imagined two-dimensional beings encountering a three-dimensional shape, Salerni threads a healthy dose of theoretical physics through the plot line, which should please young sci-fi fans. Well-earned reversals in the developing action will keep less mathematically minded readers engaged, while refreshingly un-cliched characterization steers the narrative clear of tired tropes. While many middle-grade novels ask "What if...?" Jadie's adventures give the question real teeth.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)