Solving for M

by Jennifer Swender

Perfect for fans of Raymie Nightingale and The Fourteenth Goldfish, this heartfelt middle-grade novel seamlessly melds STEAM content with first loss in an honest and striking debut.

When Mika starts fifth grade at the middle school, her neat life gets messy. Separated from old friends and starting new classes, Mika is far from her comfort zone. And math class is the most confusing of all, especially when her teacher Mr. Vann assigns math journals. Art in math? Who's ever heard of such a thing?

But when challenges arise at home, Mika realizes there are no easy answers. Maybe, with some help from friends, family, and one unique teacher, a math journal can help her work out problems, and not just the math ones.

Debut author Jennifer Swender delivers poignant prose and illustrator Jennifer Naalchigar brings Mika's journal to life in this perfect equation of honesty plus hope that adds up to a heartwarming coming-of-age story.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Mathematics, Friendship, Fiction, Family, Audiobook

Hardcover

First published May 28, 2019

About the author

Jennifer taught elementary school students for over a decade before turning to writing full time. She is the author of several picture books and early chapter books and develops curriculum materials for students and teachers. She lives in Massachusetts with her family.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

”I used to think if I wore a dress once in a while, they’d like me.” That is weird because Dee Dee doesn’t seem like the kind of person who worries at all about who like whom.

This quote sort of sums up what is going on with Mika, who has just started 5th grade, and middle school, and all her friends are in the other classes. Now she has to make new friends, and she finds that they are the kind of friends she prefers.

But this book is more than about friendships. It is also about a teacher who teaches math by doing, rather than by the book. In fact, when he does use the book, he goes out of order. He makes it so the kids want to come to class, and often come early, because it is more interesting than eating in the cafeteria.

It is also about Mika’s mother having skin cancer, and having to deal with treatments.

It is all these things and more.

And often, that is how life is. It isn’t just one thing, it is everything.

I love Mr. Vann, the math teacher, who uses art, and real world examples to teach math concepts. Teachers like that are far and few between, and if this book inspires other teachers to take this approach, it would be a great thing. I never had teachers like this, but my daughter did, and she still remembers what she learned from them, long after all the other stuff is long gone.

This book will resonate with adults as well as the target audience. It is written at the middle-grade level, but there are insights that I didn’t think about until I was much older. Such as her thoughts on her grandmother, who comes to help out while her mother is sick with the cancer treatments.

I wonder if it’s kind of like how Gradma Beau had to get used to missing Ganda Beau. I know my Grandpa Beau got sick and then he died. That happened before I was even born. But I guess I used to think it was something that had always happened. Like it was always that way.

But now I see there was a time when it was actually happening, when everybody was in the middle of it, just like we’re in the middle of this now.

Go get this book now. You will not be sorry. Oh, and the pictures are delightful as well.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interest Level: 3-6

Could you ever imagine a math journal helping with a devastating trauma in your family? Mika is just starting middle school and at Highbridge Middle School kids are put into pods. Mika is not happy about this because her best friend is in a different pod. Well, at least they can eat lunch together... or will they? Mika soon finds out that her best friend is making new best friends in middle school. This leave Mika all alone. To make things worse, her math teacher is making the class keep a math journal and in art class drawing is not in this year's curriculum. Can things get any worse? Mika soon finds out that they can. Mika's parents are divorced. She lives with her mom in New York and her dad lives in Florida with his new wife. Mika doesn't see much of her dad because he is a doctor and doesn't have a lot of time for her. This is another area in Mika's life that is about to change. Her mom goes to the doctor for a spot on her leg and soon finds out that she has melanoma. When her mom has to have a couple of procedures to remove the cancer and then some aggressive treatments afterwards, Mika's grandmother has to come move in to help out. It seems like Mika's whole world is falling apart. Will Mika find a friend in her new pod to help her through this? Will Mr. Vann, her math teacher, and his math journal be able to actually to help her express her feelings about her mom's sickness? Will her dad step up and help while her mom is sick? And will her mom be able to overcome this extremely dangerous form of cancer? Read this absolutely amazing book to find out!!!

This book is one of my favorites for the year!! The way that Jennifer Sender weaves a math journal into a diary that helps Mika cope with all that is going on in her life is outstanding. This book is so full of family and friendship, love and loss, pain and happiness. Mika is one of those characters that you just want to wrap your arms around and tell her that everything is going to be okay, despite her strength and determination. Do not miss this 2019 debut novel by Jennifer Swender!!

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[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interest Level: 3-6

Could you ever imagine a math journal helping with a devastating trauma in your family? Mika is just starting middle school and at Highbridge Middle School kids are put into pods. Mika is not happy about this because her best friend is in a different pod. Well, at least they can eat lunch together... or will they? Mika soon finds out that her best friend is making new best friends in middle school. This leave Mika all alone. To make things worse, her math teacher is making the class keep a math journal and in art class drawing is not in this year's curriculum. Can things get any worse? Mika soon finds out that they can. Mika's parents are divorced. She lives with her mom in New York and her dad lives in Florida with his new wife. Mika doesn't see much of her dad because he is a doctor and doesn't have a lot of time for her. This is another area in Mika's life that is about to change. Her mom goes to the doctor for a spot on her leg and soon finds out that she has melanoma. When her mom has to have a couple of procedures to remove the cancer and then some aggressive treatments afterwards, Mika's grandmother has to come move in to help out. It seems like Mika's whole world is falling apart. Will Mika find a friend in her new pod to help her through this? Will Mr. Vann, her math teacher, and his math journal be able to actually to help her express her feelings about her mom's sickness? Will her dad step up and help while her mom is sick? And will her mom be able to overcome this extremely dangerous form of cancer? Read this absolutely amazing book to find out!!!

This book is one of my favorites for the year!! The way that Jennifer Sender weaves a math journal into a diary that helps Mika cope with all that is going on in her life is outstanding. This book is so full of family and friendship, love and loss, pain and happiness. Mika is one of those characters that you just want to wrap your arms around and tell her that everything is going to be okay, despite her strength and determination. Do not miss this 2019 debut novel by Jennifer Swender!!

[Karis · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’re looking for a clean middle-grade book that handles difficult topics like cancer and school troubles, then this book is perfect for you. The unique approach this book takes in exploring how math isn’t all about just numbers but also about concepts and ideas were developed tastefully and tied in well the personal struggles the main character dealing with her mother’s cancer.

I would have liked to have seen more of Mika’s school life besides her math class, but the scenes and story development in California with Mika’s dad made up for it. Some of the book’s impact was a little lost on me, being a homeschooled high school senior, but I can definitely relate to Mika’s quiet but deep and very present fears and dislike of change. I went through that time period myself as a ten-year-old; I have to applaud the author for so realistically slipping into a ten-year old’s mindset. I love how Mika used her math journal as a way of processing everything and wasn’t resentful when her best friend made other friends and instead looked to develop and build other relationships with the girls in her class.

Well written, uniquely themed, and sweetly illustrated.

3.5 stars

[Fernando Alcala Suarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous and unique. At times heartwrenching but necessary. A book I'd definitely want my kids at school to read.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE MOST PHENOMENAL STORY. I wouldn’t usually pick up a middle-grades book, but I bought and read this one since I’ll be teaching 7th grade and will add it to my class library. Mika, the narrator and protagonist, is headed into 5th grade- her first year of middle school- separated from her best friend. Each chapter is told from the lens of a math concept, which was a unique and fun way into the story. Mr. Vann is her eccentric math teacher who requires her to keep a math journal. Mr. Vann is my new teaching icon! He embodies everything that I want to be for my students and incorporates interdisciplinary teaching and learning strategies that make his students eager to come to class. When Mika’s mom has to undergo surgery and her whole world changes, Mika learns the importance of true friendships and sees numbers everywhere she looks. Solving for M includes Mika’s math journal entries where her passion for art and new ways of looking at the world come together to illustrate the emotions that she doesn’t quite know how to talk about. I can’t recommend this book enough for both students of all ages AND teachers.

[Selene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my grade five class. They also kept a math journal along with Mika.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit. I am a teacher and it may have been the quirky, creative, effective Mr. Vann, Grade Five Pod Two math teacher, who put this book over the top for me. Or it may have been Mika whose world turns upside down in multiple ways when she enters fifth grade, housed in a middle school:

1. Mika is placed in a different pod from her former best friend, Ella, who now becomes a part of the Onesie’s, the girls of Pod One, and, therefore, has no time for Mika.
2. Mika’s favorite subject has always been art, which does not include “drawing” (with the air quotes) as part of the fifth grade curriculum; her favorite subject now becomes math which does include drawing as part of their math journals.
3. Mika’s best friends are now Dee Dee, who she considered an “odd science geek,” and Chelsea, “a slightly annoying Goody Two-shoes.”
4. Mika’s mother has melanoma and has become sick and withdrawn from the cancer treatments and medicines.
5. Because of her mother’s cancer, Mika visits her father who left when she was a baby and his new wife and finds she actually has a good time and wants to return.

Mika’s math journal and her new friends, as well as her grandmother and her mother’s best friend, the theatrical Jeannie, help Mika through the highs and lows of the year.

I loved new author Jennifer Swender’s writing and the unique voices of the characters (and Dee Dee hilarious science tee shirts and Chelsea’s obsession with providing treats for every celebration), and I adored Mika’s math journal entries so much that I missed the journals for a few chapters that hadn’t been included yet in this ARC. Best of all, I finally found a novel for math teachers to share with their students!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Solving for M, author Jennifer Swender has crafted one of the most innovative approaches to a middle grade novel. Cleverly blending the lessons winsome protagonist Mika is learning in her fifth grade math class with the events taking place in her life, Swender has penned a story that is simultaneously engaging and educational.
Starting middle school is a scary prospect for most youth. A new environment, a new schedule, new classmates, all of which can be overwhelming. Add (see that, a math term!) a parent's cancer diagnosis to the mix. But the story doesn't stop there. Each chapter focuses on a particular mathematics lesson as a lenses for examining Mika's life and her attempt to solve both her homework problems and those in her life.
Admittedly, I like math. This book reignited that passion and made me realize just how instrumental math is in everyday life. I adore the idea of keeping a math journal and will definitely use it in the classroom. I'd highly recommend this book to teachers and home school educators, it just might spark an interest in all things numerical for your students.

[Jaclyn Hillis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mika is starting 5th grade at a new school, her best friend isn't in any of her classes, and her mom is having health issues -- so basically life as she knows it is flipped upside down. Her math teacher, Mr. Vann, is making them journal... in math!? But he is an amazing teacher and the journal helps Mika cope with the changes in her life. I loved this book so much because of all of the topics it incorporates. The math lessons and doodles are really fun, too.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kelly Jahng · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very enjoyable. The math journal Mika keeps is typical of the types of problems students are asked to solve in math today, and her teacher is very effective. I did think 5th grade was young to be doing Cartesian coordinates and algebraic expressions, but I’m not a math person, so maybe not. The characters are likable and Mika’s struggle with her mom’s cancer is believable. The format of each chapter following a math concept was unique and interesting. A fun and memorable book.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this middle grade novel and all the math tied into life lessons. I love the idea of a math journal and the depth and cleverness of Mika's entries is impressive. Despite a heavy topic (cancer) the book manages to stay light and positive. I love Mika's new friends and her family support system.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solving for M is my favorite middle-grade read of 2019 thus far. It has heart, relatable characters, and I’m a huge fan of the way math journals are woven throughout. It’s a perfect fit for my 5th grade classroom!

[soap · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5. I super loved the writing, but the characters pissed me off immensely

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another great read! I really like the approach to learning math, dealing with a parent who has a serious illness, and how supportive friends and family can make a difference. The characters are relatable. Definitely would recommend.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for school. I liked the format and found a few ideas for my class.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been on my shelf for almost six years. It was great middle grade realistic fiction with a school aspect along with a sick parent going through treatment for cancer.

[MaryJo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to give this book 3 and a half stars. It is definitely worth more than 3 but not quite up to my 4 standards. It is a good story, and good for those learning math concepts in a fun way.

[LisaSunshineGirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and accurate depiction of a fifth grader navigating a parent's illness. Also, as someone who doesn't like math, if I had a teacher like Mr. Vann as a child, I believe I would have loved it.

[Madison Lessard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You can read my full review on my blog here.

This is an absolutely wonderful and at times gut-wrenching read. If you’re looking for an MG that tackles tough stuff with grace and gentleness, this is where you should go to find it. Mika lives at home with her mom, where things are usually “just the two of us” for them— but not long into the story, Mika’s mom is diagnosed with a serious illness that leaves her future full of treatments and hazy outcomes. With her mom no longer completely independent, Mika’s entire life goes upside down, and she struggles to find answers that are always out of reach.

I think the thing I loved most about this novel is that it felt so authentically middle-grade, both in terms of the way subject matter was dealt with and Mika’s actual narrative voice. I love MG with my whole heart, and at the same time, I’ve long been a stickler of the notion that you really need to understand and grasp that middle-schooler narrative voice if you’re going to write it in first-person. Solving For M accomplishes this brilliantly. Mika has thoughts and opinions and dialogue that feel very authentic and true to her age. She’s grown-up enough to understand some things, including a lot of heavy stuff about her mom’s illness, but she doesn’t feel way too mature to be a fifth-grader.

And on that note, this setting of such a serious family story in a MG that ultimately feels heartwarming is an emotional rollercoaster. But in a good way. I was genuinely touched by this story, and at its core it’s a tale about love and finding family in those who might not be our immediate family. From Grandma Beau to Jeanie to her two best friends at school to her mom, Mika is surrounded by people who care. Also, girl power! Most of the cast is made up of strong girl characters.

The book is full of illustrations to represent Mika’s math journals for class, courtesy of illustrator Jennifer Naalchigar, and a major kudos to this book for using visual storytelling as an extremely effective medium. Mika’s math journals always have something to do with what is going on in her life and in the story, and as a result, they can often be emotional and deeply meaningful. Mika loves art and ends up loving her math class, so combining both into the math journal is (besides being the premise of the novel itself) super effective, and I’m glad we get to see those pictures on-page.

This novel deals with heavy themes, but in a way that feels so authentically MG and true to the heart. Mika’s story is equal parts tough stuff and the lighthearted life of a simple middle-schooler. Many hats off to Jennifer Swender for crafting a story that deals with thematically difficult content, in a setting that’s easy and welcome to digest.

I’m a writer, literary intern, and college student. Here’s where else to find me.

[Josephine Sorrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Mika starts fifth grade at the middle school, her neat life gets boggled. Separated from old friends and starting new classes, Mika is far from her comfort zone. And math class is the most confusing of all, especially when her teacher Mr. Vann assigns math journals. Art in math? Who’s ever heard of such a thing?

But when challenges arise at home, Mika lives with her mother. Her father remarried when Mika was too little to remember and lives in
Florida with his wife and two dogs.

This book while well written, made me feel extremely sad. I think it is because of the reality of cancer occurring now in others close to me. As with Mika’s mom, it’s the waiting and uncertainty that is frightening.

I liked the book and Mika’s Refuge in math class with Mr. Vann. Between you and me though, I kinda skipped a lot of the journaling. If you’ve read the masterful book A Monster Calls by Shusterman, the journal entry #24 reminds me of Conor’s monster in that book.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Math, and middle school, and a good 10-year old kid with loving parents and normal friends. Mika is similar to many of my middle school students--just trying to do the best she can in a new school and with the real-life trials sent her family's way. Mixed with each chapter is part of her math class with her adventurous math teacher. The illustrations are spectacular and make me want to incorporate math journals in my classroom.

I laughed, I cried (a bit), I need several copies of this book in my classroom library.

[Afoma (Reading Middle Grade) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this short (256 pages) middle-grade book with a smart, sensitive, and emotionally intelligent protagonist dealing with a parent’s illness. Solving for M includes illustrations and features an enthusiastic math teacher. This book also explores themes of amicable friendship dissolution, parental separation, and a sweet grandparent bond. I would highly recommend it for STEM-loving kids and teachers looking for books with strong STEM connections.

Read my full review on my blog.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

William Allen White Award Nominee 2021/2022

Not my favorite middle grade/WAW award nominee. I feel like Swender tried to talk about "deep" and "important" topics without really talking about them. The whole math thing was also really confusing at times and often it was a stretch fitting what was happening in Mika's life to the math lesson.

Overall, I'm disappointed.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lower middle grade read about a 5th grade girl, Mika, for whom life just doesn't work out the way she expects.

Fifth grade -- and the start of middle school -- is not at all what she expects. There's poetry in science class, the art teacher declares no drawing (??!) and is only allowing the use of found objects, and math class has an unconventional math teacher, Mr. Vann, who skips around in the text and asks his students to keep a journal and draw (!!) out their problem solutions. Not that she's complaining about the last bit, because Mika loves to draw.

But things don't go as she expects at home, either. Mika's mom throws her a curveball when she's diagnosed with cancer and doesn't respond to the treatments the way they'd hoped.

The story is accompanied by pages of Mika's drawings in her math journal, showing her attempts to puzzle through her math problems, which inevitably relate to her Mom's cancer issues.

One of the things I liked about the story, overall, is that Mika doesn't really have a story "goal," not in the sense of a heroine on a quest or with a task to complete to save the world or all of humanity. Things just don't work out the way she predicts or expects they will -- pretty much all the time. Even math is no help in predicting anything about her mom's cancer, although it is ironically full of numbers. And yet, math journaling is the key way she copes with her mother's health struggles.

And ultimately, it's how Mika copes during this tumultuous year that's the important life-lesson. I think we sometimes forget kids want to see themselves in the stories they read, and 10- & 11-year-olds don't always have "goals." Instead, life just sort of happens around them and to them, and they feel powerless and thrust into circumstances that force them to react, to cope, to deal.

Mika shows how something she never expected helps her to do just that -- and that's the poignant message to readers that resonates.

Enjoy!

Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?

Visit my blog, The Fabric of Words, for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mika Barnes has just started fifth grade and in her New York community, this means she’s starting middle school. Instead of having one class with one teacher all day, now she moves around all day. She has different teachers for each subject, there are A-days and B-days and to top it off, her best friend Ella isn’t in any of her classes ….not even lunch. It’s not that she doesn’t enjoy middle school, just that very few things in fifth grade make sense.

Solving for M mainly focuses on her math class and one specific assignment. Mika’s math teacher, Mr. Vann has all the students keep a math journal.

Each entry has a specific word problem for all the students to answer and then discuss together in class. But Mr. Vann is less interested in whether or not you have the right answer, he wants you to explain the logic behind how you came to your answer.

For example, these are questions like “Think about something you experienced recently. Estimate when the activity began and when it ended. Then figure the elapsed time spent on the activity to the nearest quarter hour. Explain your thinking using words, numbers and/or picture”

At the beginning of this story though, Mika’s mom has found a mole on her leg that’s had to be removed (Which is on the back of the book, I’m not giving anything away!)

She uses her math journal to work out some of the worries she has about her mom’s doctor visits about this mole and the changes that are going on in her life that she can’t control.

What’s different about this book is that Mika deals with some heavy situation. Her parents are divorced and her dad lives hundreds of miles away with a new family and Mika lives with her single mom who is undergoing cancer treatments for the length of the book. This book seems to highlight the notion that parents are people and not just parents. They have aspirations, they struggle, they get sick, they make mistakes, etc.

I would suggest this to any upper elementary or middle grade reader looking for realistic fiction.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

See my full review here: https://www.yabookscentral.com/kidsfi...

SOLVING FOR M is a beautiful and enthralling middle grade novel about finding your way in a new school and dealing with parental illness. Mika is starting middle school in the second pod, a group of classes and classmates designed to make middle school feel a little smaller. Her previous best friend is in the first pod, so Mika is a little nervous. Her art class also isn't covering drawing this year, which is her favorite thing.

In math class, they are asked to keep a math journal, which sounds strange at first, but it is a way for Mika to express herself and continue drawing. Math is quickly becoming her favorite class. She also finds some unlikely friends in Dee Dee, who has the seriously coolest science-themed shirts, and Chelsea, who loves school. At the same time, her mother has a suspicious mole removed and Mika worries over her and the treatments she is getting.

What I loved: I absolutely adored Mika, her friends, family support, and the representation of STEM. Math has never seemed like so much fun, and I was totally there for it! Mika is going through some big things, and I love the support she and her family had plus the way she is able to work though it, in part, with math and her math journal. This was truly beautifully well done. The book is a pleasure to read from start to finish.

Final verdict: SOLVING FOR M is an incredible middle grade novel about finding your way, loving math, and dealing with bumps in the road. Mika, her friends, family, and her math teacher were all amazingly well crafted characters. The math journal entries appearing throughout as illustrations only add to the appeal of this fantastic book. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a heartfelt and hopeful contemporary fiction.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is Solving for M a book about math class or a book about dealing with cancer? Does M stand for Mika or Mom? Jennifer Swender successfully melds these questions into a great book for pre-teens and early teens. While not all fifth graders are in middle school, I think fifth graders will relate to math class. Unfortunately, some will also relate to a parent or caregiver dealing with cancer treatments. I love the way the math teacher in the book teaches - some teachers could learn by reading Solving for M. Having previously taught, Swender appears to understand upper elementary and middle school students. She also appears to understand that sometimes adults don’t give 10-year-olds enough credit for being able to understand what adults are going through.
Solving for M was recently chosen to appear on the Land of Enchantment List for the 2020-2021 school year. Id’ be recommending this title even if it wasn’t chosen. I will be adding it to my K-12 Christian School library. I can’t wait to share it with my students.
I received a complimentary copy of Solving for M because I am a member of the Land of Enchantment committee. A review was not required.

[HollyLovesBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solving for M absolutely speaks to me as an adult who has a career in one of the STEM fields and children involved in these areas as well. I love the way this book uses a POV of a young child who is going through a difficult time at home and then her interactions through her math class and the teacher she has there. She is fortunate enough to have a teacher who wants to make math fun and more than just paperwork but instead bring it to life. Anyone lucky enough to have this sort of teacher is truly blessed. This book was very sensitive to the challenges that this young girl faced in her personal life with her mother's cancer and separation of her parents. The illustrations and the use of "word problems" were a wonderful addition to this story. I will look forward to checking this out in a physical copy to see how much better it looks in that format (its good in digital but I'm guessing it will be best in physical form).
Definitely recommend!

#SolvingForM #NetGalley #RandomHouseChildrens #CrownBooksforYoungReaders

[Merrilyn Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut novel was a pleasurable read from cover to cover. Mika is in middle school fifth grade, starting at a new school and now separated from her best friend. When Mika begins her math class, she's surprised to find a very unorthodox math teacher who starts in the middle of the math book, eats candles that he lights in class, and regularly awards his students billions of extra credit points. Mika finds that, unlike in previous years, she is now liking math, at least the way Mr. Vann teaches it. She even likes the math journals he assigns where she can combine her math and art skills. When her mom discovers a mark on her leg, then finds out she has melanoma, Mike relies on the friends she's making in math class, her math applied learning, and her journal to work through an extremely challenging time in her young life. This author and the illustrator take a difficult subject and turn it into a lovely, well-paced journey of a fifth-grade student and how she handles the turmoil in her life. I would highly recommend this book to 4th - 6th-grade students.