Early Reader Review: Drawing Outside the Lines: A Julia Morgan Novel by Susan Austin

Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Drawing Outside the Lines: A Julia Morgan Novel by Susan Austin 

Publisher: Sparkpress
Publication Date:  October 18, 2022

 

Format: Paperback ARC


Rating:


Goodreads Synopsis: 

Meet the brilliant, fearless, and ambitious Julia Morgan. In 1883, eleven-year-old Julia visits the amazing new Brooklyn Bridge—an experience that ignites within her a small but persistent flame. Someday, she decides, she too will build an astounding structure.

Growing up in horse-and-buggy Oakland, Julia enjoys daring fence walks, climbing the tallest trees, and constantly testing her mother’s patience with her lack of interest in domestic duties and social events. At a time when “brainy” girls are the object of ridicule, Julia excels in school and consistently outsmarts her ornery brothers—but she has an even greater battle ahead. When she enrolls at university to study engineering, the male students taunt her, and the professors belittle her. Through it all, however, Julia holds on to her dream of becoming an architect. She faces each challenge head-on, firmly standing up to those who believe a woman’s place is in the home. Fortunately, the world has yet to meet anyone like the indomitable Miss Morgan.

Drawing Outside the Lines is an imagined childhood of pioneering architect Julia Morgan, who left behind her an extraordinary legacy of creativity, beauty, and engineering marvels.

Review: 

This was a fun historical fiction about Julia Morgan a now famous female architect, but as a young woman she faced a lot of adversity for being female. The book follows Julia through grade and high school and into college while she learns about mechanical drawing and engineering and pushes herself in a world of boys, men, and constant under-estimation on their part. 

I liked the way this book took a historical figure and adapted her early years into a whimsical fiction tale. Julia was determined to make it. She fought with parents, teachers and peers to make it to where she ended up, which was one of the first females to hold an architect license in California. The plot of the book moved through her younger years and into college at a pretty fast clip but the book was well paced and easy to read. I enjoyed Julia and her friend Mary and how they changed throughout the book but also kept up appearances as well. 

I think that this book would be a great encouragement for young girls and the history here would be good for young boys to read as well. I think that this book could span from middle grade through young adult reading well and it is such a fun book. The blend of fiction and fact with real letters was so well done.