7x9=Trouble

Mills, Claudia. 7x9=Trouble! Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Farrar Straus Giroux, 2002. 103 pages. $6.95. ISBN 9780374464523.

Summary:

Wilson’s 3^rd grade class has a challenge: they all need to pass their multiplication tests (1-12) by March 16^th! Each time a student completes all twelve timed tests they are rewarded with an ice cream cone. The trouble is, Wilson is struggling to learn even the “easy” ones like the 3s and 4s. As his classmates, one by one begin to attain their cones, and as the March deadline approaches, Wilson feels more and more nervous. He begins to practice at home and makes the unhappy discovery that his five year-old brother seems to have a natural affinity for numbers---he seems to “get” multiplication intuitively, counting 3 fish, 6 fish, 9 fish for his stuffed penguin. And when Squiggles, the class hamster, disappears from his cage there is yet another challenge to surmount. Will Wilson manage to meet the multiplication deadline? Will Squiggles be found?

Curriculum Connections:

The connection to math is the obvious one for this book! But the content also supports the anxiety that some students have around math and the pressure to learn math facts in middle elementary school. This text will reassure those students.

Personal Reflections:

This transitional fiction book is perfectly aimed at a second/third grade level, coinciding with the reading level as well as with pertinent content for students of this age. Karas’ graphite illustrations are light-hearted and whimsical.

Awards:

ALA Notable Children’s Book, 2003.

Age/Interest Range:

7-10

Genre/Themes:

Realistic Fiction, Math

Read-Alikes:

Fractions=Trouble! also by Mills, not to mention Math Curse (Scieszka), are two books that deal with math and the anxiety that it elicits in some students.