Candace, the Universe, and Everything by Sherri L. Smith features eighth grader Candace Wells who loves to draw. Her life intersects with that of 93-year-old Loretta Spencer and 53-year-old Professor Tracey Auburn because all three share a connection to locker 235 at Walden Elementary School. As it turns out, the top shelf of that locker was designed to accommodate a window in the sky in 1908 when Elizabeth Simpson, an avid bird watcher, visited with Ellis Monroe, the draftsman for the architect for the school, who arranged the design.
Since then, birds fly in and out of knots and connect the three to a time travelling purple notebook. But how can a locker be more than “just a stinky metal box shoved into the wall of a miserable institution” (47)? Soon, Candace is wondering how she, a mad scientist, and a college professor can all be “a point person for a mystery of the universe” (100). Maybe Loretta really has dementia, or maybe, as Tracey concludes, “That woman’s not a scientist; she’s a writer. It’s her job to be inventive” (105).
Because Candace’s best friend, Nadine, has befriended Becca and abandoned her bestie, Candace has time on her hands to study the interdimensional travel of magpies and the science attached to their flight patterns. In the process, she learns a great deal about friendship, skylarking, bird watching, and the “unpossible” from her two elderly friends. Loretta also shares various tidbits of wisdom, such as “Trust me. I’ve seen a million graduations by now. Change is always hard, but also rewarding. It’s not something to fear” (273).
Although her novel would classify as a fantasy, Smith provides plenty of science to intrigue readers. With allusions to Carolyn Parker, bird flight patterns and their tendency to follow magnetic lines, and the Fibonacci sequence and its application to art, science, and nature, Smith threads her imaginative tale with creative insight. She also reveals how three generations of Black women find comfort in the perspectives they offer one another as they confront live-changing events—whether through aging, job transfers, or the social challenges of junior high.
- Donna