The Math Kids: The Prime-Time Burglars

Volume XXV / Issue 10 - November 9 / 2018
The Math Kids
The Math Kids
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The Math Kids: The Prime-Time Burglars

Author: 
David Cole
Toronto, ON: Common Deer Press, 2018
183 pp., trade pbk. & ebook, $9.99 (pbk.)
ISBN: 
978-1-988761-22-0 (pbk.)
978-1-988761-23-7 (ebook)
Grades: 
5-9
Ages: 
10-14
Review by: 
Elaine Fuhr (Reviewed from Advance Reading Copy)
5
Excerpt: 

“I wish they’d catch whoever it is that’s robbing the houses,” I said. “Joe said that the police were looking at a lot of clues.”

Joe Ponnath is a year behind us in school, and his dad is a sergeant in the police force. The burglaries were a big topic at school and Joe was enjoying being in the spotlight. Even the fifth graders were paying attention to him. At recess, there was a crowd gathered around him asking him questions about the robberies. I don’t think he knew much about them really, but he wasn’t going to let anyone else know that.

“The police are looking for one guy, but my dad thinks it might it might be an entire gang,” Joe said to the crowd. “He said we need to be careful because they could be armed and dangerous.”

I wondered if his dad had really said anything about the criminals being armed I think Joe was just glad to have someone pay attention to him, so he needed to make it seem as if he knew everything about the case.

“The chief of detectives is even thinking about calling in the FBI,” he said, drawing some oohs and aahs from the crowd, especially the younger kids. The FBI? That was big league!

“Does your daddy have to go running to the FBI every time he can’t solve a simple crime?” asked Robbie.

Joe started to defend his dad, but then wisely shut his mouth when he saw Bryce and Bill standing behind Robbie. Joe was a scrappy little kid and didn’t mind fighting with the older kids, but he wasn’t about to take them on when he was outnumbered three to one.

What? Math is fun. Math is useful. Aah, come on, that can’t be right. But author David Cole has written a novel that absolutely proves that math can be fun and useful. Jordan, Justin and Stephanie are all math whizzes in school, and, like most students, they face many challenges every day. They must deal with Robbie and his gang who are all bullies. Stephanie has trouble with their teacher, and all of them are faced with burglaries in their neighbourhood that are scaring all the kids in school. The three form an after-school math club and realize they can use math to help solve some of their problems. Perhaps they can even use math to solve the mystery of the burglaries and where the burglars will strike next. Wouldn’t it be cool to help the police.

As a teacher, I have heard so many times that math isn’t fun. Many students can’t foresee what good it will ever be in their daily lives. Well, The Math Kids is a novel that will help readers see its value. The three characters learn that a math problem does not necessarily have just one solution and that there is often more than one way to solve a math problem. This chapter book even includes questions readers can try, and it also shows with illustrations and charts how the three characters solved their problems. At the end, there is a section that helps readers do math just like the math kids.

The Math Kids: The Prime-Time Burglars is a fun book to read, and it really encourages readers to try some of the math challenges presented.

Highly Recommended
Reviewer: 

Elaine Fuhr, a retired teacher, resides in Alberta.