Math Mysteries

June 26, 2023
Numbers are the key to rooting out the truth in this low-stakes first installment of an arithmetic whodunit series by Starmer (A Million Views). Abby Feldstein, Cam McGill, and Gabe Kim call themselves the Prime Detectives, so named for their reputation as sleuths who use math to solve mysteries and for their friendship, which is as indivisible as prime numbers. The first day of fourth grade immediately tests the trio’s mettle: the Penderton triplets, three brothers new to Arithmos Elementary, bustle into the classroom expecting to be early but are instead inexplicably 10 minutes tardy. In this first of several episodic numerical capers, the Prime Detectives crack the case, detailing via concise prose how they use mathematical logic to puzzle out those missing minutes. The team breaks subsequent mysteries down into digestible math problems, using conversions to explain a batch of inedible cookies and statistics to demonstrate how a gym class obstacle course went sideways. Cheerful, limited blue-palette illustrations by Kissi (the Wind Riders series) accompany each adventure, making for a fast-reading story that’s light on mystery but rich in equations. Characters are depicted as having varying skin tones. Ages 8–11. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

August 1, 2023
Grades 3-5 Math class, Ron Roy's A to Z Mysteries series, and Ms. Frizzle merge in this short math mystery focused on Arthimos Elementary's fourth-grade class. The story centers primarily upon the point of view of the Prime Detectives, a trio of longtime friends and students in Ms. Everly's fourth-grade class, as its members begin their first day of a new school year. The early chapters of this story beautifully set the scene for the unfolding mysteries while also allowing the audience to gather information and background on the characters and classroom dynamics. Each chapter cleverly elevates the stakes with different theories and mathematical processes that escalate in difficulty as well as build tension and mystery. Ideal for any elementary classroom, the book provides easy-to-understand ways of thinking through math problems in concrete scenarios, such as mismanaged time, a zip line mishap, a missing iPad, and poisoned cookies. Nicely integrated demonstrations of the solutions through both character dialogue and explicit arithmetic equations set this apart, and the occasional illustrations help bring to life the characters.

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July 1, 2023
Fourth grade sleuths do it by the numbers in this STEM-centric series kickoff. Showing every step in inset boxes of calculations and solutions inserted throughout the narrative, Starmer pitches a nonstop series of classroom mysteries at math whiz Abby "The Abacus" Feldstein, stats superstar Gabe Kim, and talented chemist/kitchen dynamo Cam McGill--collectively known as the Prime Detectives since, obviously, they're indivisible like prime numbers. Shepherded by firm, kind teacher Mrs. Everly (think Ms. Frizzle but with an even larger wardrobe), the team solves conundrums ranging from why the Penderton triplets are tardy on the first day of class at Arithmos Elementary and why the initial batch of homemade cookies they bake for everyone tastes terrible (a recipe is included midway through) to the fate of a stolen iPad. Along with arithmetical operations and systematic evidence gathering, getting to answers involves rounding, estimation, and unit conversion...not to mention clear explanations of "buffalo theory," the right way to scale recipes up, techniques for creating a "Memory Palace," and several other intellectual tools as useful outside math class as in. In Kissi's blue-tinted drawings, Abby and Mrs. Everly are light-skinned, Gabe is cued Asian, and Cam presents Black; their classmates are a racially diverse group. High density edutainment...with cookies. (Fiction. 7-10)

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