Ming and Maria Explore the Universe (The Girls Who Changed the World #5) by Jackie French

Title: Ming and Maria Explore the Universe (The Girls Who Changed the World #5)

Author: Jackie French

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: HarperCollins Australia

Published: 30^th April 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 272

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: In this fifth and final book in The Girls Who Changed the World series, Ming Qong discovers who she is, and that she, too, will change the world.

Ming has travelled through history to meet girls who have changed the world. However, this time is different as Herstory, History’s sister, promises to reveal to Ming something of her own past: her long-lost mother.

When Ming washes up on the icy shores of Nantucket Island in 1836 she is saved by the elderly Mrs Sloe and the wealthy Miss Reynolds, but there is no sign of a woman who might be her mother.

The island is home to Maria Mitchell, who at seventeen has already published her first papers on astronomy and will go on to inspire scientists around the world for generations to come.

Maria’s future holds extraordinary promise and fame. But what about Ming? And who is her mother?

In this final book in the Girls Who Changed the World series, Ming Qong discovers who she is, and how she, too, will change the world.

~*~

It’s time for Ming to find out who she is in the final book of Jackie French’s recent series, The Girls Who Changed the World. Over the course of the book, Ming has witnessed history through the eyes of various people in Australia, at sea, in war-torn France and with Ada Lovelace – but one question has plagued her throughout the series: who her mother was, and why she left Ming and her twin brother, Tuan. Now, Ming is off on her final adventure into the past.

This time, she wakes up as she is washed onto the shores of Nantucket Island, and is taken in by Mrs Sloe, an elderly Quaker and Miss Reynolds, a newcomer to the community – but Ming can’t find her mother anywhere. It’s 1836, and Ming is going to meet Maria Mitchell, the first female scientist, attend her school and study the universe with her. As the story goes on, Ming holds onto the promise from Herstory about finding her mother. But who is it? And how will Ming herself help change the world as well? Ming will learn a lot from these women, who will help her see the many different ways girls have and will change the world.

In the final book of this series, everything that has been building since Ming and Flo is coming together, and the tiny clues dropped throughout about Ming’s mother seem to flow into this book, but are cleverly woven into each book as well. Ming’s final adventure in this series shows her how different societies or communities value education and how they come together in times of need in comparison to others. One thing is certain: ideas about race and gender, and how some people reacted to different people has been threaded throughout the series and into this final book to show that sometimes, things take a long time to change. Some things will always be there too. And it is also about the importance of the historical record and ensuring it is accurate and safe.

As Ming has travelled through each era and setting, she has learnt something new about the people whose voices weren’t heard, or may have been erased or spoken over until much later. The revolutionaries who made discoveries and quiet changes as well as big ones are all in this series. With the final one, Ming meets a girl she knows a bit about – Maria Mitchell, the first female astronomer and scientist in the US. Science and astronomy are key features in this book, allowing girls to see that women have been fascinated by these things for centuries. One of the important things this final book shows is how hard girls have had to fight to get an education, and how important it is to learn everything we can. To hang onto that knowledge, because we don’t want it to disappear.

As a finale, this book worked very well to tie everything together and answer ongoing questions. It also brings history to life for younger readers and makes it accessible, gives them names and ideas to look up and investigate further, which is the beauty of historical fiction. It can fill in the gaps and teach us things that we may not learn in text books, or that text books may only touch on briefly. Add in some time travel, and it really makes it sing. Because you get to live in the past whilst not leaving your bed, or chair – you get to be part of a time that has been and gone. The sights and sounds, the things people did are rendered in a way that makes one feel like they could be there. This is a wonderful way to end the series, with hope and joy, and a sense that things will continue off the page. A reader can imagine what might happen next, and how it will fit into Ming’s other adventures. I have enjoyed reading this series, and whilst it is sad to see it end, I think it has come full circle and is definitely worth a re-read now that each book is out.