Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra - by Wendy Lichtman (Paperback)

About the Book

Eighth-grader Tess finds that algebra can come in handy in and out of the classroom. She uses it as a secret code in her journal, as shorthand for social status . . . and as a tool to help her solve two mysteries that shes right smack in the middle of.

Book Synopsis

Using concepts from algebra and relating them to life, Tess navigates the waters of friendship, popularity, and family.

Math lover Tess has always used mathematical concepts to help her understand things in her life. She is surprised to find out how much math--and life--can change in eighth grade.

She also has to learn about injustice and ethics when a family friend mysteriously dies, and when she witnesses a cheating episode at her school and realizes that keeping silent about it, even to get in the good graces of the cutest boy in school, only leads to more trouble.

Are theorems and axioms about life fail-safe? Is there an absolute answer to everything, just as there are absolute numbers?

In the end, Tess decides that her life, like the infinity sign, is always changing, but that as long as she sticks to some key principles for herself, she can handle life's uncertainties.

From the Back Cover

Tess loves math because it's the one subject she can trust--there's always just one right answer, and it never changes. But then she starts algebra and is introduced to those pesky and mysterious variables, which seem to be everywhere in eighth grade. When even your friends and parents can be variables, how in the world do you find out the right answers to the really important questions, like what to do about a boy you like or whom to tell when someone's done something really bad?

Will Tess's life ever stop changing long enough for her to figure it all out?