Fall Reading 2013 Numbed!

Author David Lubar has written another adventure for Logan and Benedict, his characters from the book Punished. This time the boys tangle with a robot named Cypher while on a field trip to the Mobius Mathematics Museum. When Benedict makes the robot angry, it zaps the boys and numbs their math skills. Suddenly they can't do even the simplest math problems - and there is a big math test in two days! To regain their math skills they have to return to the museum and get help from Dr. Thagoras (Cypher's inventor). As they struggle through two days of trying to relearn math they find out how often we use those skills in everyday life. Everything from knowing when Logan's mom will meet them at the mall's food court to helping his little sister count out enough change to buy 6 pencils at the school store becomes a real challenge.

If you enjoy playing with numbers, then you will enjoy this story. Even the chapters are labeled with math problems. Chapter 11 is marked "1+2+3+5" and other chapters have subtraction, multiplication, or division as part of their names. This reminds me a lot of the book, Math Curse, which turned everything into a math problem. Even if you are not really into math, the book is still very funny and you will be cheering for the boys as they work their way through un-numbing their math abilities. 

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. The author's website tells more about his other books for kids and teens. We have several of his books in the library, including - Punished, Attack of the Vampire Weenies, and Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie.