Emmet's Storm

"Long before the discovery of Asperger's syndrome; long before STEM was a teaching approach, there were quirky, "different" kids who didn't quite fit in but were very intelligent. Often they were obsessed with science. In the 1880's, Emmet Roche was such a kid, like many I have taught. Writing the book I imagined how one of my smart but atypical students would have lived and coped before the turn of the century, when all the cutting edge technology was in things we take for granted today. The "experiments" that were ground-breaking for him are now a normal part of intermediate science classes. The very real Children's Blizzard of 1888 gave him a chance to show how useful his scientific speculations were" (Rubino). The book is acclaimed for its representation of scientific processes including exploring solutions to community problems.