The Isle of Math (Paperback)

by Kiele Takeuchi (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
It's official. Math is evil and Rachel Takahashi has proof. Meet the only math teacher in the world who hates math. Instead of teaching Hawaiian (her dream job), her employers are only interested in Rachel's other degree-math. And now her fiancé, Florian Davis, has returned from studying anthropology in Africa to announce that he's married. This is the final straw and Rachel decides to go swimming in a hurricane rather than returning to her hated job teaching math. But (you may have guessed) her tale doesn't end there. The horror continues. Rachel has miscalculated. She has not counted on or figured out the true dangers presented by the ocean's waves. She soon discovers that her problems have gone from obtuse to acute. And, when she washes ashore, like the sands on the beach, they seem infinite. Can Rachel keep her problems from multiplying exponentially or does she face infinite regression on the dreaded Isle of Math? Kiele Takeuchi is a former math major who finally saw the light and decided that she was meant for a career in journalism. This is her first of many novels. For more about the author, please visit her at: http://www.isleofmath.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Sense of Wonder (May 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596635509
• ISBN-13: 978-1596635500
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,794,129 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Clever, June 22, 2007

By	J. Starr Weems - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm very impressed. Kiele Takeuchi is a master of entertaining and wacky story lines that keep you snickering out loud. You will uncover more clever puns and allusions on each re-reading. Fun for readers young and old. I can't wait for more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solving for 'X' Not Required, June 22, 2007

By	M. Camp - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

We all have memories of those dreaded days in high school when we were plagued with the formidable task of solving the problem of the two trains leaving their respective stations at the same time and traveling at different speeds. Does anyone actually remember how to solve it? Has anyone actually needed to since getting out of school?

Perhaps you have vivid memories of days spent trying to grasp how to use the quadratic equation and pondering when you would ever need such knowledge. Or maybe you once thought that a polynomial was a scientific name for some obscure small animal on the other side of the world. If you have ever felt such frustrations, you are not alone.

Granted, there's no denying that math (to an extent) is an important part of our lives. However, the majority of us will never find our lives lacking for want of being able to calculate a slope or factor a trinomial. Very basic algebra, checkbook skills, and other practical applications of math are the most that the majority of us will ever need.

The Isle of Math is a story by Kiele Takeuchi about Rachel Takahashi, a girl who hates math but has found herself trapped teaching it. Have you ever wondered how you got where you are? Have you ever felt like a hamster running on a wheel - getting nowhere fast and stuck in the process? Of course, hamsters actually like running on wheels. What about those of us who don't like running or, perhaps, don't even like wheels? The point is that just because everyone says we should keep running on the proverbial wheel, that doesn't mean that there's nothing for us in the world we keep seeing off to the side - the one that passes us by because we keep running in circles. This was Rachel's dilemma. In the author's words: "This book is for the brave. This book is for the fearless. This book is for the strong, the courageous, and those who can withstand writhing torture. It's about math."

If your distaste for word problems and calculating answers to fictitious train scenarios has been revived by this brief diatribe, then join Rachel and see what adventures came to her one day in the midst of all the turmoil in her life caused by math. At just over 100 pages, it won't take long for you to join Rachel in her full journey of math hating and discover where it led her. For all the math haters out there or people who just feel trapped in what they're doing, this is definitely worth a read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining , July 23, 2007

By	Steffan De Graffenried - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is entertaining for anyone who hates math or who is familiar with the world of public education.