Precocious Nova seems to be 8-10 years old (her older sister, Cassiopeia or Cassie, is 12, and much taller), and the daughter of scientists who "work for the government" off-screen.
Very little makes rational sense in this cartoonish escapade that seems to be modeled on popular Saturday morning cartoon laboratory scientists, BUT it is appealing to have the main character be female and Black, with a supporting cast of her nuclear Black family.
Although I was immediately put off when Nova arrogantly charges off to save the planet from plastics - and starting this journey with an enormous quantity of (certainly plastic) inventions to help her do inane things like put on her gloves and boots - when it's evident she is unable to demonstrate any skills or knowledge to differentiate one mushroom, worm, or organic substance from another. It was refreshing to have a kid be confident and creative, at least, but in my mind, what the worlds needs is scientists who observe, reflect, consider, and ruminate. Overconfident creative inventors have created a lot of messes - and that IS actually what happens in this story...but don't young readers need to see the best way to do something, rather than assuming that showing them the worst way is sufficient?
She uses ONE piece of the scientific method, when she seems to be looking at a chart of "results" created by a robot she invented before the story begins, and who seems all-in on the idea of bioengineering a creature by tossing random ingredients into a beaker and turning up the heat.
The only other actual science in this story is the basic plot - which seems to be grabbed from headlines first reported between 2011 and 2015, then with increasing frequency in 2020-2023, about "Plastivores" (term not used in this book, but easily discoverable in Wikipedia), meaning a variety of organisms - bacteria, fungi, and insects - that degrade plastics.
I don't know if the author doesn't trust readers to handle more information, or if she's not interested in sharing it, but she seems excited to share how to draw the main character and Chomp, the blob-creature that she created by accident and went completely out of control - similar to Frankenstein's monster, referring to it, yet learning nothing from that metaphorical story.
The parents give her a brief "tsk-tsk" lecture about "telling them" before they suggest the whole family should "invent something that helps put the town back together." This is very odd, if you ask me, and makes me think the author's heart is NOT into the parental oversight concept; they don't say "ask us first," they don't even say "tell us before you start," and they assume (outrageously) that the damage done by Chomp can be repaired by a family of impetuous scientists who are completely willing to imprison the unhappy little monster, turn it over to the FBI (CIA?), and tell them to douse it with a chemical bath that shrinks it down to size every evening.
Readers who at that point do not ask themselves; "Why not invent a special shrinking substance to douse the plastic to shrink it down to size every evening, in the first place?" will NOT make good scientists!!
I am afraid that to many readers, Nova and her family will look like the buffoonish crackpot scientists from cartoons.