The Four Color Media Monitor

The Indiana Gazette published one of propagandist Andrew Smith's fluff-coated Captain Comics columns, here focusing on 3 female-driven graphic novels, and the second one, Curie Society, is what contains dismaying quota-based propaganda:

When teen science prodigies Maya, Simone and Taj become roommates at (the fictional) Edmonds University, they are inducted into the (also fictional) all-female, all-scientist Curie Society. The secret organization was founded in 1903, we are told, so “brilliant women could pursue the furthest reaches of their intellect.”

The three have to pool their skills to join the society, which is just phase one. Phase two is the “save the world from evil scientists” part, which is more or less standard teen-detective action/adventure.

But with STEM! Which is what elevates this book above genre formula.

Honestly, the plot is pretty familiar, as is the After-School Special lesson that our fractious heroines have to learn to work together to achieve their aims. The girls are all multiculti, and one of them isn’t on the gender binary. That’s almost standard procedure these days.

What sets “Curie Society” apart from all its “Encyclopedia Brown”/”Hardy Boys” young-adult brethren is A) all the good guys are gals, B) the girls are well developed as individual characters and C) real-world science is involved at every turn. Like “The Martian” — which the catalog copy actually references as an inspiration — our fledgling heroes have to employ real science. The book also includes biographical data on the scientists mentioned and the book’s science advisers, as well as a glossary of science terminology.

If I had a daughter in middle school, this book would be in her library. There aren’t enough books to inspire girls about math, science and technology (although that’s changing), so I welcome this one.

There also aren't enough books avoiding divisive identity politics as this has. Didn't he say one of the cast either wasn't a gal, or was a character claiming non-binary status? I doubt there's any girls in this GN of Portuguese, Ugandan, Armenian or Finnish background, so what's the point? Smith is additionally oblivious to the existence of adventure fare like Nancy Drew, which makes this Curie Society GN rather moot when you take the older female-driven stories into consideration.

Let's be clear. Science and math are important subjects. But hinging their education on identity politics quotas is not how to promote or encourage studying them. If this GN is built on needless ideological elements, then it's basically a failure.

Labels: msm propaganda, politics