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Thu, 07/09/2009

So What's Next, by Danica McKellar:

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The paperback edition of Kiss My Math hits the shelves this week, and there's no time to waste - I'm hard at work, writing my third book, which will be on Algebra... and I'm taking suggestions! In my last post, I told you how much I love getting feedback about Kiss My Math and Math Doesn't Suck, but I also appreciate getting feedback on books I haven't written yet.

You see, I spend a lot of time talking with teachers and students to get a feeling for what's going on in math classrooms across this country, and to check in about what the most confusing topics for teens are these days. The more suggestions and requests I get, the better! I like to see patterns in what people struggle the most with in algebra, and the feedback helps me decide which topics to spend more time on than others, and which topics are easier and don't need as many pages dedicated to them.

What topic in Algebra do you need the most help with? Email me! You see, the style of my books is very conversational in nature, and it's important to me to take the time it requires to make the topics friendly - without my books becoming 700 page tomes. :)

Other kinds of feedback can also be helpful, too. For example, after Math Doesn't Suck came out, I had so many emails about the helpfulness of the test tips in the Troubleshooting Guide (in which I give all sorts of advice about getting "unstuck" in math) that I decided to create an entire "Math Test Survival Guide" in Kiss My Math! It includes the "Pretend Cheat Sheet" and it also includes the "Quickie Sheet" which is available for free on the extras page of kissmymath.com.

All three books will definitely work together, and will be used in sequence by most students - Math Doesn't Suck is mostly for ages 9-12, Kiss My Math for ages 12-14, and now this Algebra book (which doesn't have a title yet!) will cover Algebra I. There is even some beginning Algebra in Kiss My Math, as the line between pre-algebra and algebra is a little fuzzy at times, and I wanted to make sure my Kiss My Math readers were totally covered.

So, as I sit here with my trusty laptop, putting together my outlines and chapters for the Algebra book - your input is welcome. Whether you are a student, parent, or teacher, if you have any requests for material or types of problems to do in the book, or any other thoughts, I invite you to send ‘em in!

And again, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your summer, an excellent time to brush up on math - with a couple of paperbacks that will keep you entertained, too...