Friday, December 20, 2013

The 14 Fibs of Gregory K.


by Greg Pincus. 226 p. Arthur A. Levine Books/ Scholastic Inc., September, 2013. 9780439912990. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for a review.)

Gregory K. is a poet lost in a family of math geniuses. Until now, amiable Gregory has kept his lack of math skills and fondness for the subject, a secret from his mathematically overachieving family. His cover is about to be blown because he's in danger of failing math. If he does, he knows he will find himself in math camp this summer instead of author camp with his best friend, Kelly. Author camp was always going to be a hard sell with his folks and now that Kelly's moving away, Gregory wants to attend more than anything. Can he risk telling his parents the truth? Remember I said that Gregory is amiable? In order to please everyone, he spins a series of lies. Of course, it collapses but Gregory gets help and support from an unexpected source and learns to see how his particular skill set can help him understand math.

This sweet and gentle middle grade novel about family, friendship, math and poetry is engaging and humorous. Warning: Do not read on an empty stomach. Kelly's mom owns a pie store named Slice, which Gregory visits daily and pie is described in glorious detail.

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