Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail | 
 enlarge | Author: Danica Mckellar
Publisher: Hudson Street Press
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
Buy New: $12.87
You Save: $11.08 (46%)
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Rating:  82 reviews
Sales Rank: 11847
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 1594630399
Dewey Decimal Number: 510
EAN: 9781594630392
Publication Date: August 2, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION.
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Product Description
From a well-known actress and math geniusa groundbreaking guide to mathematics for middle school girls, their parents, and educators
As the math education crisis in this country continues to make headlines, research continues to prove that it is in middle school when math scores begin to dropespecially for girlsin large part due to the relentless social conditioning that tells girls they cant do math, and that math is uncool. Young girls today need strong female role models to embrace the idea that its okay to be smartin fact, its sexy to be smart!
Its Danica McKellars mission to be this role model, and demonstrate on a large scale that math doesnt suck. In this fun and accessible guide, McKellardubbed a math superstar by The New York Timesgives girls and their parents the tools they need to master the math concepts that confuse middle-schoolers most, including fractions, percentages, pre-algebra, and more. The book features hip, real-world examples, step-by-step instruction, and engaging stories of Danicas own childhood struggles in math (and stardom). In addition, borrowing from the style of todays teen magazines, it even includes a Math Horoscope section, Math Personality Quizzes, and Real-Life Testimonialsultimately revealing why math is easier and cooler than readers think.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 77 more reviews...
 Imagine "Teen Cosmo" publishing INTRO TO JUNIOR-HIGH MATH August 4, 2007
104 out of 109 found this review helpful
When I was seven, my mother got a Mathematics degree. At 29, I got my own Mathematics degree -- and of 60 people that day who got Math bachelor degrees then and there with me, only three were women. My mother proved, and those three co-graduating women proved, and Danica proves now, that women can learn math. But that's not what junior-high and high school girls think, is it? Most teen girls think they're math-morons.
Danica has written this book for such math-panicked teen girls -- Danica has written this book not only to TEACH them, but to ENCOURAGE them: "You can learn this!"
The math covered in Danica's book is junior-high level -- Danica presumes that the reader already knows how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide; then Danica takes the reader up through Algebra I. Danica's math is solid; and Danica's explanations, easy to understand.
But this is not your brother's math book. If you flipped through the book quickly, not reading the text, the illustrations and all the girly-handwriting would make you think that it was a book about teen fashion. The book also has chapter headings like no other math book I've seen -- Chapter 7, for instance, is entitled, "Is Your Sister Trying to Cheat You Out of Your Fair Share? (Comparing Fractions)." Chapter 9, on complex fractions, starts out, "Say you're trying on an outfit for a party. You've got the dress, the shoes, and the earrings -- and now you're choosing the right necklace...."
Danica also includes three "testimonials" (profiles) of young women who are successful in their careers because they've mastered math. Rather than show three "Ugly Betties" or nerdettes, the three women profiled are BABES.
To me, the most amazing thing about her book is that she tells the "blank quiz" story about herself: In a seventh-grade math class, "[w]hen the bell rang and my quiz was still blank, I wanted to disappear into my chair. I just didn't want to EXIST."
When I read this book, I learned something. Not about math, but about people. Junior-high girls, in particular. I give this book a 4.99999999999999999...-star rating.
Makeup and math? Hallelujah! August 2, 2007
67 out of 72 found this review helpful
What will this book teach your daughter? That she can work out math problems by herself. That she can learn to love math, and even excel at it. And that she can do these things while still being every bit as girlie as she wants to be. Makeup and math? Yes, this book says, you can love them both.
Will girls read it? I think so, because, unlike so many academic texts, "Math Doesn't Suck" is so much more than a study guide. Author McKellar -- yes, Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years" but also a summa cum laude math grad from UCLA -- combines a step-by-step approach to middle-school math concepts with lots of personal anecdotes (such as how she once struggled with particular math problems) as well as stories of how other feminine women have excelled in the subject. Also adding some insight is McKellar's 12-year-old goddaughter, Tori.
Best of all, McKellar makes her points well. Each chapter is devoted to just one topic (i.e., decimals, or factoring) and uses real-life situations (baby-sitting, shopping) that really make things easy to understand.
Overall the book's chapter titles are a little too pink-and-purple for my tastes, but then again I'm not the target audience. I'm not 13, striving to define myself while getting Paris Hilton, the Pussycat Dolls and Hooters commercials driven into my brain. Girls can be smart AND feminine? Math is for them? Say amen, somebody!
Feminism via Fractions. August 16, 2007
38 out of 47 found this review helpful
Okay, so this isn't really a book on feminism, or its ideals. Or is it?
Danica McKellar does a wonderful job of encouraging girls to believe in themselves and in their ability to master math.
The book helps girls to understand that they don't have to "dumb-down" (for boys or anyone) and that they CAN excel in mathematics while still being "girly" (if that's what they WANT to be).
Choice, intelligence, mastery. Sounds like feminism to me. :)
Best of all, the book succeeds in its mission: making math truly understandable for the middle-school female via real-life examples they can relate to.
Fabulous! Get a copy for your daughter, niece, little sister. Or get a copy for you, just to remind yourself what it is we should be teaching our girls.
This book isn't just for young girls August 20, 2007
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Having good math skills makes a person a better shopper and a better chef. Having good math skills simply makes an individual more confident in all areas of life. This is the message of this well written book. McKellar takes a step by step approach to math. I liked looking at the examples she provides, as I tried to solve the problems she includes in each chapter. Math Doesn't Suck is a good refresher for me, because I forgot a lot of things from my school days. I also learned new concepts like how to figure out rates and ratios. I enjoyed doing the fraction problems and algebra problems. They were challenging and fun for me to solve. I also enjoyed reading the testimonals from women who use math in their daily lives. There were interesting contributions from students and teachers and other professionals. I loved the contribution from Stephanie Peterson. She uses math on the job as a petroleum analyst, and she is also a professional actress. McKellar also shares personal experiences from her life. McKellar is an intelligent successful and humble young woman. Math Doesn't Suck is an educational and inspirational book. I loved it.
Make math the love of your life October 2, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
For many years, I taught math and I was distressed when my students didn't love the subject. I did everything in my power to make them love math and sometimes, years later, some of them come to me and tell me I succeeded. Here is a book that will do the same for the student who will take the time to study its many revealing chapters.
Math is not hard, really. After all, a number is only an idea, and once one becomes familiar with the ideas of mathematics, it can become a life long love affair.This book is a fine place to start. So what are you waiting for?
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