Momentum is a captivating historical fiction novel offering a glimpse into the life of a remarkable woman, Dr. Maria Montessori, who was born in Chiaravalle, Italy, and grew up in a time when girls went uneducated. From an early age, Maria defied societal norms, becoming one of the first female doctors in Italy and going on to revolutionize education with a method that has spread around the world. Taking its bones from a real diary written by Dr. Montessori in 1913 chronicling her first voyage to America, Momentum is a fictionalized retelling of that same voyage. Told from Maria’s perspective and written directly to her son to illuminate a complicated inheritance, the novel explores how she came to send her son—born out of wedlock in 1898—to be raised by others while she concentrated on her work. Dr. Montessori’s own telling of events barely written about in biographies provides an inspiring portrait of a woman who overcame countless obstacles to reform education and brings recognition to both the unlimited potential of every child and their role in changing the world.