Do the Math #2: The Writing on the Wall by Wendy Lichtman

Do the Math #2: The Writing on the Wall by Wendy Lichtman

In this follow-up to Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Algebra, Tess learns that life, like algebra, sometimes has no solutions. Sometimes you just have to take a risk and figure out your own answers.

The spring semester of eighth grade, like algebra, has become even more complicated for math-lover Tess. There's the new girl at school, whom Tess is not quite sure is a friend. There's bully Richard, who keeps playing mean pranks on her--but if she tells on him, he can finally call her a snitch, so she's not sure she should.

There's mysterious graffiti on the wall that seems to be a math code. Is it meant for Tess to understand? Could it have anything to do with the fire set in evil Mr. Z's classroom?

Finally, Damien seems to be hanging around more than ever, but she's not sure why-- is it because he likes her, or is it just a "coincidental system" like the one she learned about in algebra class?

In the end, Tess figures out that sometimes life doesn't offer formulas to figuring out the answers. Sometimes you have to take a risk and create your own formulas and discover your own solutions, even if you make a few mistakes along the way.

Wendy Lichtman contributes personal pieces to national media such as the Washington Post, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Good Housekeeping. She's also the author of Do the Math: Secrets, Lies, and Mathematics, as well as four more young adult novels. She has a bachelor's degree in mathematics and has tutored algebra to public school pupils for numerous years. When she decided to write about a teenage girl who discovers that certain questions have more than one correct answer, algebra seemed like the perfect metaphor, with its unknowns and variables. Wendy Lichtman is a Californian who lives in Berkeley.