The Chesapeake Bay has become polluted by a stinky plastic-eating bacteria, pee yew! But fifth-grade friends Izi, Gir, and others take action together by forming an activist group called the Antidotes, and join forces with public health activists to find clean water solutions. The friends use STEM strategies to help save the earth from a potential disaster— they also have secret meetings, do a little spy work, and make some useful discoveries.

Along the way, they learn to embrace their differences, and discover that they are stronger when they all work together. The Antidotes race against the clock to get out the word to kids around the world about how to stay safe. But— will the Antidotes be able to get enough kids to reduce their plastic use before it makes any more fish or kids sick? Join the Antidotes in their first science adventure, and stay tuned for more stories!

At the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Patty and her son Gabriel talked about how the pandemic might have been different if children were more actively engaged. They created The Antidotes during long walks with their pandemic puppy. Patty drew inspiration from her experience with a team of young boys in South Sudan that she had enlisted to map a two-year outbreak of a mysterious and often-fatal illness. The World Health Organization used those maps and quickly identified the disease as relapsing fever. The boys then began a campaign to help school children teach their families how to prevent and treat the disease.