From School Library Journal Gr 4–6—Eleven-year-old Gregory K.'s parents, older brother, and younger sister love math and talking about it, but Gregory hates it. All he wants to do is write, spend time with his friend Kelly, and eat pie. When it turns out that Kelly is moving over the summer and that she wants him to join her at Author's Camp, Gregory lurches from one misstep to another as he tries but fails to ask for permission to go to the camp. And in a desperate effort to keep from having to go to math camp instead, he volunteers for the City Math contest, which his brother has won multiple times. Along the way Gregory lies to his parents and his math teacher about loving math, and lies to Kelly about having gotten permission to go to camp, until he figures out a solution that involves poetry, Fibonacci, and telling the truth. Gregory is a reasonably sympathetic, realistic kid who keeps convincing himself that he has things under control even as they slide toward disaster. This lighthearted look at the relationship between poetry and math is fun in places, but the sometimes forced math humor and the somewhat stilted dialogue and narrative style will limit the book's audience.—Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City Read more From Booklist Math-hater Gregory tries very hard to fit in with his math-loving family, even though what he really enjoys is writing and sharing poetry with his best friend, Kelly. His failing math scores mean that he has to spend summer at math camp, ruining his plans for the summer at author camp with Kelly. Still trying to find a way out, Gregory begins telling fibs to make those around him think that math camp is, indeed, the plan, and the ensuing mayhem caused by multiple lies creates enough action and intrigue to keep readers fully engaged. The solution to Gregory’s dilemma involves poetry designed using the Fibonacci sequence, and each chapter heading is a Fibonacci-sequence poem that forecasts Gregory’s fibs. This delightful novel introduces a resourceful and inspiring young character, and many readers will relate to Gregory’s desire for creative expression and his yearning for acceptance. Grades 4-7. --Martha Edmundson Read more See all Editorial Reviews
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
1 month ago
