Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie Kingsley
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Ellie fixes stuff, tackles mystery in fun pageant tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Young Ellie is a fish out of water at the Miss Peachy Keen Pageant in ELLIE, ENGINEER: IN THE SPOTLIGHT. She tried the pageant because her best friend, Kit, loves doing them -- but when she sees the other girls' talents and is called "unladylike" by Kit's rival, Ellie starts to feel out of place wearing her beloved tool belt with a dress. Things get frantic when one contestant's prop goes missing and another is broken minutes before the talent show, and it looks like Ellie's engineering skills could be the only thing to save the pageant.
Is It Any Good?
There's so much to love here: strong friendships, well-grounded kids, supportive adults, a fun mystery, and science at every turn. Ellie, Engineer: In the Spotlight has a great storyline that, from beginning to end, celebrates individuality, ambition, and kindness. Kids' pageants aren't known for upending stereotypes or having down-to-earth parents, but both happen here. Ellie is incredibly relatable: She's nervous, a little uncertain, and trying to figure out how to balance being a good friend, a good competitor, and a good mystery-solving engineer. Young readers will likely recognize those feelings in aspects of their own lives, and will learn solid science while they watch Ellie navigate pageant life.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how, in Ellie, Engineer: In the Spotlight, each of the girls has one aspect of the pageant that makes them nervous. Which would make you more nervous: answering questions from a few adults in a quiet room, or performing a talent on stage in front of a large group?
Why would someone say that wearing a tool belt is "unladylike"? Are some jobs for girls and some for boys? Or can everyone to any job they want?
What other books about inventors have you read?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Science
- Topics : STEM , Friendship
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Bloomsbury Children's Books
- Publication date : November 5, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 208
- Available on : Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate