This book is very on-the-nose about its themes. Imo, especially in a book geared towards middle-school children, I don't think that it's a bad thing that the themes are clear.

-Everyone's story deserves to be told, even if some others have been trying to suppress them.

-Silence is complicity.

-Sometimes you have to break the rules to speak truth to power.

Even if the themes are a bit obvious, the book also leaves room for people being complicated. Amos' mom isn't "bad," nor is the blacksmith reenactor, but they both behave in ways that are complicit with bigotry and have to make amends and change their behavior. My heart hurts for younger me, and for all children, who have to come to the realization that society as it's built doesn't value or tell their stories, and that it's up to them to find and tell them, even if that's not fair. On the upside, taking responsibility for your own learning, even when it's out of a necessity to reassure yourself that you and people like you exist and have always existed, opens doors, develops skills, and leads to friendships.

This is both a hard and hopeful book to read in this political moment, as so many people's history is being re-erased and intentionally obscured by cishet white men backlash.

I love the meet-the-mom setup, and that there are more cat-and-mouse stories about these two, even if I find the short length of each of these books frustrating. I'm hoping for more books that achieve a Stainless Steel Rat vibe.

The middle section, in which the MCs look pretty in formal wear and smoulder at each other while the author criticizes rich people philanthropy and the stealing of culture artifacts

I liked this, since I'm always up for heists and lighthearted scifi, but it's more of a third of a book than the first of a trilogy of novellas. Luckily I can borrow the other two books right away.