Annika Riz, Math Whiz
(Franklin School Friends #2)

GR 2–4—Third-grader Annika Riz loves math as much as her friends Izzy Barr and Kelsey Green dislike it. While she is attentive during math, her friends are easily distracted, so she whispers answers to help them avoid agitating their stern teacher. During the week of the school carnival, it seems like there is nothing else that any of the other students can think about, but Annika is secretly focused on winning the public library's citywide sudoku contest. She believes that if she can beat all of the city's third-graders, her friends will see that math is cool after all. After some disappointments along the way, Annika's love of the subject helps her save her class's carnival booth and convinces her that her attempts to help her friends may have done more harm than good. As in Kelsey Green, Reading Queen (Farrar, 2013), Mills has developed characters who are realistically flawed and friendships that are supportive throughout. She does an excellent job of demonstrating why Annika's cheating is problematic without any heavy-handed moralizing. The occasional illustrations are perfectly paced and a nice supplement to the text.—Amanda Augsburger, Moline Public Library, IL

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