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In this cute middle-grade novel, Folsom takes an interesting and unique approach to an apocalyptic world where living on the surface of the earth is no longer safe. Susannah, the twelve-year-old protagonist of the novel, lives with her family in Coppermopolis. This underground civilization came into existence when those above the surface escaped the uninhabitable and polluted air. In place of the sky and sun, the underground caves are equipped with artificial light, engineered seasons, and more. Though this book has futuristic elements to it, it still retains the familiarity and mundanity that many kids will be able to associate with, such as schools with fully equipped classrooms, multiple subjects, school buses to take them home and back, and most important of all for this story, a science fair.
Here is where Folsom's choice of subject is particularly interesting. Instead of having a cautionary sort of focus about the future of the world, she uses a reactive perspective via the science fair. In other words, instead of showing the suffering that a futuristic uninhabitable earth might cause, she takes a problem-solving approach by having a science fair where students must think of solutions to make living above ground possible once more. It's a daunting task to assign to children, but it deliberately shows that age does not matter when it comes to being able to make a change in the world, even if small.
Every year, Susannah loves science fair season. And even though she won with her team the year before, this year's theme has her even more excited than ever. She can't help but want to win again, to have the chance at being a part of the effort toward making living on the surface possible again. She dreams of the blue sky she hears about in stories and pushes herself and her friends toward that achievement. At first, Susannah's personality can come off as overbearing in the sense that she can be arrogant, but her faults are quickly corrected when she learns not to judge others by their appearance. In addition, the remaining side characters are also fully distinguishable. In other words, they each have varying personalities and ways of expressing themselves that make them easy to tell apart, which is a definite plus.
As for the overall worldbuilding, the concept of humans moving underground to survive is intriguing, as is the world they have built in the caves. However, it doesn't reach its full potential. This is not to say that the novel's world is not developed or explored, but rather that the science fair takes up such a large portion of the story that it leaves readers wanting to explore the world further. Of course, the science fair itself is a means to discuss the bad air above the surface, but it doesn't do enough to contribute to the overall worldbuilding. Even so, the concept and characters definitely make this short middle-grade novel worth the read for young readers, especially considering the themes of friendship and teamwork that are explored throughout.