Monday, August 15, 2011

Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine

Absolute Value of Mike by Kathryn Erskine
Philomel Books
2011
237p.

Fourteen-year-old Mike, whose father is a brilliant mathematician but who has no math aptitude himself, spends the summer in rural Pennsylvania with his elderly and eccentric relatives Moo and Poppy, helping the townspeople raise money to adopt a Romanian orphan.

2 comments:

  1. The Absolute Value of Mike--
    I was surprised by this one. Started out pretty wacky (crazy characters, setting) but then I could see what Erskine was doing, and I enjoyed the humor (altho every once in a while she needed to dial it down). Very entertaining; I think kids would respond to this one if prompted (not sure the cover would do it)...

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  2. I wanted to like this one, because I liked Mockingbird. But, it was just a little too much for me; too many coincidences, too much wordplay, too much of the author trying to drill similarities into my head. Will be interested to see what students think.

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