The Minerva Program

The subject of this topical detective/mystery story by award-winning Canadian children’s author Claire Mackay is computer crime. The protagonist, Minerva Wright, is a black teenager who has been written off by her teachers and who seems always to be blamed for the naughtiness of her spoiled brat of a younger brother, who monopolizes her mother’s love. The opening chapters read like a pre-teen problem story, and this vein does indeed run through the book. However, once the plot gets under way it is gripping and well paced. Minerva is discovered to have a talent for computer programming and is chosen for a special computer class. In fact, she is so good that she is given the responsible task of inputting into the school’s main files. But someone is tampering with the school files and blame is laid on Minerva; so the computer whiz puts her skill at computer logic to work to find out the perpetrator. Instead of the usual tire tracks in the mud or mysterious jottings on scraps of paper which young sleuths usually follow, these young investigators examine the tell-tale clues on computer printouts. The resultant chase becomes just as exciting as the more traditional one.

The computer background to the story is well researched. Those children knowledgeable in computer jargon will follow it well and those with no computer background may perhaps skip a few passages, but will come away with a very good idea of what computers can and cannot do. With the number of films and books which fill the child’s mind with a falsified and highly glamourized picture of the threats and capabilities of this machine, this demystification is welcome. This is an excellent mystery story for ten- to twelve-year-olds.