Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail

by Danica McKellar

Hardcover, 2007

Status

Available

Publication

Avery (2007), Edition: First Edition, Later Printing, 320 pages

Description

Demystifies middle-school math concepts that are most challenging, sharing step-by-step instructions for developing real-world math skills, providing time-saving tips and tricks, and offering practice problems with detailed answers and explanations.

Rating

(34 ratings; 4.1)

User reviews

LibraryThing member jadepumpsthejams
The purpose is to subvert the societal idea that girls shouldn't bother with math. The book's aim is to help middle schoolers (especially girls) find the value in using math to exercise their brains. Playing dumb to impress is a fools game. There is a strong push in our culture to keep young women
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in a consumerist state, which wreaks havoc on their self image and often skews their desired values. As silly as it may seem to create a math textbook in a teen magazine format, it is a genius way to reach these girls. The heartfelt introduction my McKellar is a nice touch as well. My ideas have been reinforced by this book. I am a believer in the special importance of creating new ways to educate girls. The education system is frankly, still primarily set up for boys to succeed. The book is written in an informal, conversational style. The writing is coherent and uses technical words correctly, while remaining conscious of the audience. The writing style suits the audience perfectly, using direct language, appropriate slang, and fun scenarios.
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LibraryThing member davidpwhelan
I borrowed this from the public library after seeing that the author had released the third in this series. The books are focused on encouraging girls to enjoy math. I thought it was very funny and her manner is both friendly and educational. Things on the cover that may raise eyebrows - like
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dealing with her latest crush - become mathematically relevant in the "Greatest Crush Factor" method of finding a greatest common factor. Many of the tips and methods have memorable names that may help both in recall and how to apply them later. I found myself learning - or at least, hopefully, remembering! - some concepts that I'd forgotten. The book offers explanations followed by examples, and then further supplemented with practice questions (answers in the back of the book). My pre-teen - already a math fan - thought it was interesting too, and enjoyed the writing. I'll keep the whole series in mind if she hits any obstacles in the future, and any girl struggling in math might want to give it a try.
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LibraryThing member robertbdouglas
This is the perfect book for any young girl you know who struggles with math. With chapters like "You Can Never Have Too Many Shoes" and "Why Calculators Would Make Terrible Boyfriends," how could it be anything but a hit?

McKellar covers math in a way that is accessible to kids--especially girls.
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The kid-friendly explanations, step-by-step examples, and practice problems, it is a valuable resource for teachers as well as students. It is also peppered throughout with profiles of women who have become very successful because of math. This is a must have for every middle school girl.

I am looking forward to the release of her second book: Kiss My Math.
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LibraryThing member Joles
"Math Doesn't Suck" proves that Winnie from the Wonder Years, the author of this book, Danica McKellar, isn't just another pretty face. She puts things so plainly that anyone can understand it. Besides the math tricks and tips that are imparted in this book it builds a great deal of confidence in
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the reader. Sorry boys, it's directed at girls (although, the tricks will help both boys and girls.) I'm in my mid-20s and keep wondering why they didn't teach some of these concepts to me this way, because i would've understood them from the beginning if they had! This is a must for all girls in middle & high school math classes-if you need help or not. Highly recommended!
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LibraryThing member sntorrejon
This is a wonderful book especially for girls in the middle school. It makes math kid friendly and makes it understandable and exciting. It shows cool math tricks and makes it easy. It encourages girls not to play dumb, and shows them how important it is to learn math.
LibraryThing member bunnyjadwiga
I picked this up because I heard her on NPR, but the book is amazing. Middle-school math concepts that I had forgotten or couldn't figure out how to explain to our 6th grader are explained clearly and simply and with a sense of humor, plus lot of little tips and tricks to help students along. (I
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knew about the rules for finding out if a number can be divided by 2, 3, and 5, but not the ones for 6 and 9!) There's a lot of morale-building quotes and stories here too. Our 6th grader won't read it because she insists "It's WRONG. Math DOES TOO suck!" but I'll be getting us a copy so we can use it to help her with her math homework and I can stop trying to figure out how to explain this stuff on my own!
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LibraryThing member MeganPuhl
Not your average book. Would be interesting for middle schoolers. Exciting to see something different than the normal text.
LibraryThing member melissa_tullo
I have a confession to make, I'm someone who considers herself to be "allergic to math". I gravitated towards subjects like English and History and far, far, far away from Mathematics. So my recommendation for this book is coming out my desire to alleviate my own math anxiety. Danica McKellar was
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an actress who appeared on the TV Show the Wonder Years and has a degree in Mathematics from UCLA. She writes about her own early struggles with math and how she came about writing this book. Middle school is usually about the age where girls start to lose interest in math either from frustration or are they discouraged by outside influences, so McKeller tries to break down math concepts like fractions, percentages and word problems into easier-to-understand problems.

This sounds like a hard book for educators to implement in their curriculum since it leans heavily to one subject. Nevertheless, I still think it's a good book for young readers. McKeller writes in her introduction that math can sharpen your brain and all around enhance your intellect. There always seems to be a fight between what kind of intelligence matters most and if subjects like math and science are more important that subjects like English. Teachers and educators could use this as a moment to discuss the importance of both and one can enhance the other.
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LibraryThing member smallself
I come from a self-help background. (The book I read before this was “Life Doesn’t Suck: How To Survive Your Job Without Losing Your Mind Or Becoming Psychotic”.) I find that if you can do affirmations, you can do pre-algebra. Maybe affirmations are preparatory-pre-algebra.

Anyway, the little
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fun quotes from random smart girls— philosophy of math— was great, as was the “Are you a math-o-phobe” quiz by an actual psych girl.

It’s a good book.
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

9.29 inches

ISBN

1594630399 / 9781594630392
Page: 0.4325 seconds