So You Want to Be an Architect
by Linda Soules

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade nonfiction

So You Want to Be an Architect takes what could be a complicated subject and makes it accessible to kids and teens. But it also doesn’t talk down to them—there are areas younger kids may not be able to follow, but there’s enough context to get the point across well enough, I think. I also think that if something is a little over a kid’s head and sends them to asking someone about it or looking it up, that’s not a bad thing at all. The book goes beyond explaining what architects do and what they need to learn to be able to do it; it also talks about what kinds of interests, innate skills, and even indefinable ways of seeing the world around them that might lend themselves to a potential future architect. There are segments on famous architects and fun facts as well and beautiful, colorful illustrations throughout. (The illustrations are done with AI assistance, as Soules explains at the back of the book.)

I really like how the book talks about both the good and the bad (or at least the difficult) sides of being an architect, as well as the glamorous and more-common “normal” aspects. The book is intended for pre-teens through teens aged 10-14, and I definitely could see it being a great one for anyone in or near that age range, on either side of it.

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