Mira is off again on the trail to find and help her time-traveling mother amidst the threat of bombs and the espionage of WWI. Mira is just developing her own time-traveling skills and has traveled back to London in 1917. She is to assist her mother in passing on valuable information to Room 40, the secret code-breaking center of the British Government. This is an enormous task, given that she can’t talk to or meet with her mother while time-traveling and the ever-present Watcher is there to make certain history is not changed. Mira meets people who will themselves change history: H.G. Wells, Emmeline Pankhurst, Beatrix Potter, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Mira must fight her own desire to tell them what she knows to be true in the future and the impact of their accomplishments. She must remain undercover and not reveal her time-traveling ability, unless perhaps one of these famous people is also a time-traveler.
It does not hurt to have Malcolm, a very techie brother, who supplies endless streams of internet information, a mysterious Morton who appears out of nowhere, and a father who understands that both his wife and daughter are time-travelers on a mission to keep their family safe from the Horrible Thing in the future.
Throughout we are aware that Mira’s travels bring her face-to-face with past world events that will impact the future and the Jewish people. Her concern and actions show that she understands the concepts of Tikkun Olam and social justice and that she advocates for reasoned thinking.
The Mira’s Diary series, three to date, are excellent opportunities to introduce world events, historical characters, scientific inventions and logical thinking to young readers. The merging of technology, maps and geography, human events and logical thinking make these diaries terrific reading for elementary and middle school readers. Educators will find it easy to open the door to discussions on WWI, London, spies, and the suffragette and human rights movements and will value the list of resources provided by Moss.
