This week’s Brainstorm features math whizzes and lovers …and those working their way toward loving math (who would probably label themselves math survivors) in fictional books. Also mixed in here are a few books that illustrate mathematical concepts well. Click on the titles to see my full review and any content notes/trigger warnings.
Dragonslayer (Babymouse, #11) by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm
Babymouse fails her math test and her teacher offers her an unusual makeup option - joining the mathlete team. Babymouse isn't sure about this. She doesn't feel like she is very good at math or has much to contribute. The team really wants to win the Golden Slide Rule back from the Owlgorithms but is Babymouse the prophesied one or will she doom them all?
This book gives nods to classic fantasy stories in Babymouse's daydreams, like Narnia and Lord of the Rings. And though many will agree with Babymouse's sentiments of math feeling like a horrifying dragon, the book does a fantastic job of encouraging readers like Babymouse to persevere and maybe they'll find math isn't so bad.
Target Readers:
Those Wary of Math, Graphic Novel Fans, Humor Fans, Fantasy Fans, Math Team Competition Story Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Have You Seen My Dragon? by Steve Light
A little boy is looking for his dragon. He starts in his apartment building and works his way all over New York City while his dragon is never too far away. At each stop, only one type of object appears in color and a box on the upper right counts these things from 1-20.
Target Readers:
Counting Practicers & Number Learners, Hidden Picture Fans, New York City Setting Fans, Dragon Fans, Art Lovers, Picture Book Readers
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder
A young woman gets a new posting of housekeeper to a man who has managed to go through nine housekeepers in a very short period of time. She proceeds to the new situation warily. It turns out the job is relatively easy. The house is small with just two rooms, and the professor who lives there is very easy going about his meals. The tricky part is that the professor was in a car accident in 1973 and since then he cannot remember anything new for longer than 80 minutes. He tries to compensate by leaving himself notes (which cover the suit coat he wears every day). Each morning, though, she shows up and has to reintroduce herself. The meeting is awkward until the professor asks her a number of questions. Before the accident, the professor worked at the university and taught mathematics. Thankfully, math doesn't change much so it is his one safe haven in an very confusing world. One day the housekeeper mentions that she has a son. Now, her contract has her at the professor's house till 7pm every weekday. As soon as the professor finds out that this 10 year old boy is alone for so long every day, he demands that the boy should come to the house after school and never be alone. And to make sure that she follows through, he leaves himself a note that the housekeeper has a 10 year old son. The professor nicknames the boy Root for the shape of his hair (similar to a square root symbol), and the two take to each other from their first meeting. The professor provides another adult role model for Root who has no father or grandparents, and the professor finds an eager math pupil and fellow baseball fan. The story tells how the professor changes the housekeeper's and Root's lives, and they change his.
Target Readers:
Contemporary Fiction Fans, Feel Good Story Fans, Math Lovers, Intergenerational Friendship Fans, Books in Translation Fans, Japanese Setting & Author Fans, Quick Read Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to MG & YA readers)
Luna's Yum Yum Dim Sum (Storytelling Math) by Natasha Yim, ill. by Violet Kim
It's Luna's birthday. She and her family go to the dim sum restaurant to celebrate. The three siblings are very excited to eat pork buns, but when 1 bun falls on the floor and they are left with 5 buns to divide amongst 3 siblings, they have to brainstorm how to make it fair. Should the eldest get more or the birthday girl, or should they go by their Chinese zodiac animals, or maybe could they figure out how to divide them evenly?
Target Readers:
Contemporary Fiction Fans, Foodies, Asian Characters & Creators Fans, Biracial Family Fans, Division and Fraction Learners, Problem Solving Story Fans, Birthday Story Fans, Sibling Story Fans, Picture Book Readers
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
Lucy was struck by lightning as a child and the strike rewired her brain, turning off more of the emotional side and turning her math skills way, way up. She's been homeschooled for a few years now and Lucy wants to start college for real this year. Her grandmother and uncle, though, are more concerned that she doesn't have any friends outside of a math chat and hasn't left the house in x number of days. They have another plan. They are going to make Lucy survive a year as a 7th grader. Lucy is literally calculating the hours and minutes to her freedom from the moment she walks into middle school. She's decided to tell no one about the lightning and to get some math problems wrong on purpose so she can pull off an average A and not get any special attention. Except, she also has OCD which is much more obvious and kids are much more eager to pounce on. For no reason whatsoever, though, Windy has decided that Lucy is now her best friend. And since Windy is pretty nice, Lucy doesn't mind. When the two of them need a third partner for their 7th grade service project, they get saddled with Leo. Lucy and Leo got a rough start when he tried to cheat off her the first day in math. And Windy and Leo are like flint and steel. The trio has to find a way to work together and find something that will engage Lucy's brain, satisfy Windy's desire to save the entire planet in grandiose ways, and use Leo's photography skills. And in the meantime, Lucy's just focusing on surviving the social minefield that is 7th grade.
Target Readers:
Neurodiverse Character Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Middle School Story Fans, Friendship Story Fans, Animal Lovers, Math Lovers, Middle Grade Readers
Much Ado about Baseball by Rajani LaRocca
Trish isn't thrilled to be moving to Comity. She loved her old baseball team who all appreciated and liked her, even if she was the only girl on the team. Now she has to convince a new group of boys that she can hold her own, and even worse, one of them is the boy she beat in the Math Puzzler championship last year. Everyone thinks she and Ben should be best friends since they love math and baseball, but Ben is still bitter about last year. And it isn't just about not being top in math, now he has to go out for baseball cause that was the deal with his best friend Abhi that if he lost he had to play again. And Ben has reasons he doesn't want to play baseball any more. Abhi has a plan to make the two be friends. And it seems like someone else does too when they both receive books of math puzzles. Ben is convinced the math puzzles book is magic, because when he starts answering them correctly he suddenly goes from sucking to being amazing. Or is it the snacks that their sponsor provides from Mr. O's shop The Salt Shaker? Whatever it is, will it last?
This explores the team Oberon side of what is going on in LaRocca's Midsummer's Mayhem. A few of the characters from Midsummer's Mayhem have brief appearances, and you better understand what is going on with The Salt Shaker if you've read the other book, but you can read this on its own. The common theme of the Fibonacci sequence and Pi that is woven throughout and tied in with the fairies from the Shakespeare element was done superbly. There's a lot going on in this with the baseball season, the friendship issues, the child/parent issues, the math puzzles, the background fairy battle, secrets the kids are holding, etc. but LaRocca manages to pull it all together and wrap it all up flawlessly, AND offers good friendship/life advice along the way.
Target Readers:
Light Fantasy Fans, Multicultural Cast Fans, Baseball Lovers, Math Lovers, Puzzle Fans, Shakespeare Fans, Midsummer’s Mayhem Fans, Fibonacci Sequence Fans/Studiers, Pi Fans/Studiers, Friendship Story Fans, Parent/Child Relationship Growth Story Fans, Middle Grade Readers
The Multiplying Mysteries of Mount Ten by Krista Van Dolzer
Esther is supposed to be headed to the exclusive and amazing Camp Vermeer art camp for the week. But in the middle of a horrible storm when GPS signals go awry and roads get flooded, Esther finds herself instead at Camp Archimedes. A math camp. Esther and her stepfather are stuck until the torrential downpour ends, and during that time Esther manages to solve the extremely challenging First Problem that few others manage to solve ever in their time at Camp Archimedes, and Esther uncovers a riddle that may or may not be threatening that someone at the camp is in grave danger. Can Esther and the other math nerds solve the riddle before someone is murdered?
I liked that none of the kids at this camp are the stereotypical math nerds. It helps show that a wide variety of personalities can enjoy math. Logic puzzles are primarily the kind of math involved in this book. The First Problem Esther solves can be done with algebra, but she solves it with logic. The puzzles are presented for the readers so they can see if they can beat the characters in solving the mystery, which is always fun. And for those worried, the mystery element turns out to be not nearly as sinister as it seems.
Target Readers:
Summer Camp Story Fans, Puzzle & Riddle Fans, Math Lovers, Mystery Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Middle Grade Readers
1 2 3 Cats by Lesléa Newman ; illustrated by Isabella Kung
A simple rhyming counting book of a growing number of cats.
There's a fun variety of cats in coloration and breed in this, and they engage in very realistic cat behaviors. Oh, and Kung's illustrations are so cute, even if you know your numbers really, really, REALLY well, totally pick this up to look at the pictures.
Target Readers:
Cat Lovers, Number Learners & Practicers, Art Lovers, Picture Book Readers
Pitter Pattern by Joyce Hesselberth
Lu learns about patterns on Sunday and then notices patterns everywhere she goes all the rest of the week, from the pattern of days of the week to colorful patterns to animal coats to music and dance.
Target Readers:
Pattern Learners & Fans, Puzzle Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Days of the Week Learners and Practicers, Picture Book Readers
Pool Party (Farmer Brown’s Backyard Tales) by Doreen Cronin, ill. by Betsy Lewin
Farmer Brown and the animals are HOT. Farmer Brown's brother Bob has a pool and invites them to come over to swim. But they have a lot of animals, and once everyone else is in the cows aren't so sure about getting in with all the splashing and noise. Will everyone be able to enjoy the cool waters, or will someone be left out?
There's a 1-5 counting element to this and you could also do adding activities to figure out how many total are in the pool at any one time.
Target Readers:
Summer Story Fans, Pool Party Story Fans, Farm Animal Fans, Humor Fans, Counting Beginners, Addition Beginners, Leveled Reader Fans, Picture Book Readers
Stack the Cats by Susie Ghahremani
How would you stack various amounts of cats? What if there are too many for one stack, what are your different options? Kids get to play with numbers and cats in this book.
This is definitely not your typical 1-10 counting book. The way it gives different arrangements of the cats for the numbers really sets a great foundation for adding, subtracting, fractions, and multiplying.
Target Readers:
Number Play Fans, Counting Learners & Practicers, Sorting Fans, Cat Lovers, Picture Book Readers
Superhero School by Aaron Reynolds, ill. by Andy Rash
Leonard is super excited to start Superhero School. He can't wait to practice stopping speeding trains and flying. So it is an incredible disappointment for Leonard and the others to realize that their teacher, the Blue Tornado, seems to want them to practice fractions and division more than using superpowers. School is such a bummer, until the day the ice zombies kidnap all the teachers and the students finally get to use their superpowers to rescue them. What they don't realize though, is how much they're also using those math skills too.
A very funny way to show kids how math does get used in everyday…or even superhero situations.
Target Readers:
Those Wary of Math, Superhero Fans, Math Lovers, Humor Fans, Science Fiction Fans, Picture Book Readers
We Need More Nuts (Fenske’s Squirrels, #1) by Jonathan Fenske
Two squirrels are counting the nuts they're storing. Well, one of them is counting and stuffing the cheeks of his mostly willing helper. One of them thinks they have plenty of nuts, the other one thinks they need more and more.
A fun and funny, rhyming leveled reader graphic novel. There's lots of work with numbers here, counting (and checking order), adding, subtracting...and all the way up to 24.
Target Readers:
Squirrel Lovers, Graphic Novel Fans, Humor Fans, Leveled Reader Fans, Counting Learners and Practicers Ready for More Numbers, Easy Addition/Subtraction Learners and Practicers, Rhyming Story Fans, Picture Book Readers
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