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Showing reviews 121-123 of 123
 Math book written by a TV Star - Don't be Skeptical About It August 8, 2007
H. D. Espinosa
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
Life turns around, no wonder about it. Seeing a former TV star publishing a book teaching math concepts is something I see as "unbelievable", I mean, in the good meaning of it. More surprising - and even funny - was to read right on the beginning of the book that her life as an actress and being recognized for her acting was a nice thing, but made her feel empty most of times. So she wanted to be recognized for her intelligence and went for something which was more mentally demanding - mathematics - and as far as I understood, looks like she made it well.
The purpose of the book is great. Math is a complicated and boring subject on its formal approach, so she managed to write the same basic concepts in a more everyday language which could stimulate one to view and understand how numbers work naturally. She's right when she says that proficiency in math leads us to better logical reasoning and makes us smarter and more able to take the most reasonable decisions - in the rational sense.
This could perfectly be a book for the "Dummies" series, but, you know, its marketing appeal would not be as good as having Danica's image on the cover.
Imagine "Teen Cosmo" publishing INTRO TO JUNIOR-HIGH MATH August 4, 2007
Thomas Richardson (near Houston, TX)
155 out of 159 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
Julie Neal (Sanibel Island, Fla.)
95 out of 100 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!
Showing reviews 121-123 of 123
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