Book Review: Trajectory by Cambria Gordon
In the new Cambria Gordon book “Trajectory,” readers are immersed in the gripping tale of seventeen-year-old Eleanor, whose mathematical career unfolds amidst the turmoil of World War II. Unlike her namesake Eleanor Roosevelt, she grapples with self-doubt and uncertainty about her place in the world. As the war drags on and her Jewish relatives in Europe face peril and uncertainty, Eleanor’s worries intensify.
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A chance encounter lets Eleanor display her remarkable talent in mathematics, a skill she has kept hidden. Eleanor’s father himself was a famous mathematics professor who suffered a stroke that Eleanor blames herself for. Since that day she saw her father collapse while reaching to collect a toy for Eleanor, Eleanor tells herself the store was her own fault.
Eleanor finds herself recruited by the US Army to work on a top-secret project aimed at aiding America’s war efforts. Entrusted with a daunting task, she embarks on a mission that could alter the course of history and potentially save her family and many other Jewish families in Poland. While life becomes intensely challenging on a desolate Army Base, Eleanor finds herself lonely as she cannot share her mission with her family or friends.
“Trajectory” gives a fictional look at the experience of young women who supported the United States Army using their math skills. The author does a phenomenal job setting the scene in the Muroc Army base a truly desolate place, in which the Army was aircraft testing and pilot training.
I thought Eleanor was very relatable as a young woman who is dealing with the uncertainty of nearly everything during a time of war. Not being in touch with her cousin and family in Poland is a huge source of concern and while readers know what happened to the Jewish population in Poland during the war, Eleanor and her family grapple with not knowing if their relatives are safe or not.
I also appreciated that Cambria Gordon didn’t center on a romance for Eleanor and even though she connects with a handsome pilot, “Trajectory” keeps her focus on math and her mission is always at the forefront of the plot. Some of the math calculations and descriptions are a bit hard to follow, especially when Eleanor imagines the math unfolding in her head. Ultimately “Trajectory” captures the determination of young people using their skills to fight fascism during the darkest times during World War II.
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