Available Now
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Heather’s Picks
Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is nothing like her hero Eleanor Roosevelt. She is timid and all together uncertain that she has much to offer the world. And as World War II rages overseas, Eleanor is consumed with worry for her Jewish relatives in Europe. When a chance encounter proves her to be a one-in-a-generation math whiz — a fact she has worked hard all her life to hide — Eleanor gets recruited by the US Army and entrusted with the ultimate challenge: to fine-tune a top-secret weapon that will help America defeat its enemies in World War II and secure the world’s freedom. This could be her chance to help save her family in Poland.
Soon, she’s swept from the basement of an Ivy League engineering school, to the desert of California, to an Army Air Corps base at Pearl Harbor, and finally she takes to the skies above the South Pacific.
But before she can solve this complicated problem, she must learn to unlock a bigger mystery: herself.
Gordon explores segregation in military and civilian life, the Japanese American internment, sexism and the Holocaust in ways that are historically accurate and appropriately horrifying...compelling, fast-paced historical fiction.
— Kirkus Reviews
...a deftly handled story, presenting intense military and mathematical strategy in a digestible way...Thrillingly paced, this novel not only makes math exciting but also connects the past to today while urging for constant progression.
— School Library Journal
Gordon presents an honest glimpse of American society during the 1940s. The story is fast-paced, and the characters are substantive, believable, and likeable. Recommended for readers ages 12 and up who enjoy WWII history, women’s history, military history, or just a plain good story.
— Historical Novels Society
Cambria Gordon has written an inspiring book with a rarely seen strong female character with math smarts... It’s a powerful page-turner...A real delight.
––Sydney Taylor Schmooze
Hidden Figures meets Code Name Verity in Trajectory, a richly detailed historical novel ... I couldn’t put this down!
— Kip Wilson, award-winning author of White Rose and The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin
Cambria Gordon’s careful attention to setting and detail brings an unknown and surprising history vividly to life ― and draws thought-provoking parallels to the present.
— Amanda McCrina, author of Traitor and The Silent Unseen
Well-paced and immersive, Trajectory takes readers on an exciting journey ...
— Lyn Miller-Lachmann, author of Torch, winner of the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for YA Literature