Ada Lace and the Impossible Mission

Emily Calandrelli's Ada Lace and the Impossible Mission is a funny heist story for 6 year olds about a girl who plans to break into a cupboard at her own school.

What happens

It opens with Ada in detention. That's a first! She and Milton borrowed the science lab after school to cut open a weird bug, and the principal isn't impressed.

Milton is the problem. Ada likes him, mostly. But every time they hang out she ends up in trouble. He teaches her to pick a lock with two bobby pins and she gets caught at the garden shed.

Then comes a class project. Ada, Nina and Milton build a model of an old silver mine, and it's brilliant. Until Milton finishes it off on his own and brags about adding "that old Milton magic".

What does THAT mean? A stink bomb? Fart noises? Ada can't find out, because the model is locked in the supply closet and the substitute teacher won't let her near it. The big Share Fair is two days away and all the parents are coming.

So Ada and Nina make a plan. A properly sneaky one, with a map of the school, a laser pointer for the security camera and a mirror taped to a selfie stick for peeking round corners. Even Ada's robot, George, gets a disguise (he goes as a beehive).

It's super fun for kids who love gadgets. The science is tucked right inside the plan, so your reader picks up how a mirror or a lock works just by following along.

There's lots of everyday comedy too. The substitute keeps calling her Ava. His parrot squawks "Have a seat!" whenever anyone stands up. And Ada's brother Elliott is very upset that a kitten film had fewer kittens than promised.

Picking locks might make a parent raise an eyebrow. The book is pretty clear that it gets you into trouble, and Ada spends a lot of it wondering if being curious is really so wrong. That's a nice little chat to have.

What to read next

Ada, Nina and Milton are already a trio when this one starts. If your reader wants to see how it all began, try Ada Lace, on the Case, where Ada has just moved to San Francisco and meets Nina for the first time.