A fictionalized account of the life of Eunice Newton Foote (1819-1888), a pioneering but long overlooked climate scientist, inventor, and women's rights advocate. Metcalf traces her subject's early years in a family that nurtured her curiosity, eventually sending her to New York's only science-focused girls' seminary, where her roommate was Elizabeth Cady Stanton's sister. She married Elisha Foote, a lawyer and inventor, who supported her experiments and her fight for gender equality. In 1856, the American Association for the Advancement of Science accepted Foote's groundbreaking study on greenhouse gases--but demanded a man present it at their convention. Elisha was voted a member of the AAAS; Foote was not. In 1860, English scientist John Tyndall was credited with "discovering" greenhouse gases. Still, Foote carried on, patenting her inventions. A speculative section in which Foote and her daughter Mary travel to Europe and confront Tyndall feels inessential to the narrative.

The final chapter describes how, in 2010, retired geologist Raymond Sorenson stumbled upon Foote's original 1856 report and wrote an article that set the record straight. Although at times her reliance on figurative language feels excessive, Metcalf's research shines through in the vivid details and contextual information about racial and gender bias surrounding Foote, who was white. This novel in verse effectively illuminates the life of a woman who pursued science despite systemic barriers. A valuable corrective to erasure in climate science history. -- Kirkus Reviews.