I am working on my semiannual massive picture book review article for Eclectica this week (more than fifteen picture books and all of them off the beaten track but wickedly fun) and there is one title that I just know is being overlooked by all the people who would love it if they knew about it. Stella Brite and the Dark Matter Mystery by Sara Latta is for early readers - the best sort of book for the 6-8 range, and even beyond that, depending on the child. It would be like a million other books just like it except Stella is a girl detective wanna-be (channeling Harriet the Spy) who is on the hunt for dark matter, as is in "much of the universe is made of dark matter."

That's right - this little girl is trying to solve an astronomical mystery. How cool is that?!

Stella and her little brother Max spend most of their time finding lost dogs and other predictable missing mammals, but a newspaper article turns her on to a far bigger mystery and she can't resist the challenge. Soon enough Stella and Max are going through reference books at the library, meeting with the local amateur astronomy club and tracking the very mysterious Professor Bella Black. Stella wants to understand what dark matter is and where it comes from and how it works. She is a girl detective with very big questions on a very big subject and she's not afraid (or intimidated) to find her answers. It's a classically written kid mystery but with a major twist - it's a science mystery and it's wonderfully done. As for how I felt about it, well here's the kicker -

I never understood the concept of dark matter until I read this book.

Can you believe that? I never took an astronomy class - ever- and whatever little bits and pieces of the subject that were mentioned in my general science classes was lost to me the minute I didn't have to know them anymore for a test. But we own a telescope now and I love to look at the moon, to actually see the craters on the moon with my own eyes, in my own yard. It's very cool and I'm already tracking constellations and finding planets and all sorts of fun stuff. I am a huge fan of Ray Bradbury after all - this is the sort of thing that naturally appeals to me. But I've never understood the science behind it, not at all. This book though, this very nice, very fun, very surprising little book that has great realistic and welcoming illustrations by Meredith Johnson, really impressed me. If you know a child (boy or girl) who is a space nut - who is curious and complicated and wants to know now, then Stella Brite would be an excellent gift for them. It might very well set them on a path that leads to the trip of a lifetime. Good books do things like that you know, when they get it right they can make all the difference in the world.

Stella Brite is cool, and if you never understood dark matter, then she certainly should be checked out at the earliest opportunity.