Reviews

Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss by Danica McKellar

rattledragons's review

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funny informative lighthearted fast-paced

2.75

sde's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a "sequel" to Math Doesn't Suck - good for kids (girls) in grades 6-8, depending on their math level. All I wrote in my review of Math Doesn't Suck applies to this book too.

knight101's review against another edition

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informative medium-paced

5.0

sydneyelaine's review against another edition

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5.0

I recommend this to anyone who has trouble on Pre-Algebra {And most of this stuff is in Algebra 1, as well}. It's really helpful to have a girls point of view on things and stuff most of us enjoy {example below}.

{ex; For Distributive Property she used an example of a costume party. The parenthesis as the walls of a house and had 'a' be Ariel, 'b' be Bride and 'c' be cat, so it would look like this: 1) a ( b + c ) {Ariel just arrived} 2) ab + ac (Ariel sad hi to everyone, and so on)}

pussreboots's review against another edition

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5.0

My husband is a college math professor. He also runs a math tutoring site. His mother is a high school math teacher. My mother majored in math in college but later switched to marketing research. Math has always been part of my life. Even before I met my husband I never had the sense of math being a "boy thing." Nor do I remember being intimidated by it, except for a brief time in 5th grade where reciprocals were a completely alien concept.

That said, I am aware that many young women have felt intimidated by math and I've witnessed the extra competitiveness women are put through in college when they chose to major in math. Why they should have to prove themselves is nonsensical and maddening.

So when I saw Kiss My Math by Danica McKellar on prominent display at my local library I had to check it out. No, I wasn't thinking about the actress who played Winnie on The Wonder Years when I checked out the book. No, I was thinking, "A math book aimed only a girls, how insulting!" After that I took a calming breath, counted to ten, and decided I should read the book before I passed judgment on it.

By the end of the first chapter though, I was madly in love with the book. First and foremost, McKellar includes many personal stories about how she ended up majoring in math and how she struggled with the subject in junior and senior high school. So the book is part memoir along with being a pre-Algebra book.

The book is written in a chatty style with it's own over the top lingo in the same vein as the Georgia Nicholson books by Louise Rennison. The math though, is solid. The instruction is given in an engaging and humorous way and there are enough problem sets to help the lessons stick.

I loved the book so much that when I heard about Hot X coming out, I put it on my wishlist. I now have an ARC to read and review in the upcoming months.
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