I rate this book as fair since I appreciate that the author, Wendy Lichtman, made the protagonist, Tess, teach readers a lesson after Tess learns a lesson. “After I paid for a bag of chips, I waited for Lucia to get some candy. ‘Want one?’ she asked, pointing to the tamarind. ‘No thanks,’ I said, shaking my head. I didn’t think for one second that Lucia was going to slip the candy into her pocket without paying...But she did slip it into her pocket...Some people who run stores are mean to kids my age, but the man who owns that one isn’t. He’s friendly and nice, and it bothered me that Lucia would steal anything from him. He’ll have to pay for that candy himself…” Later in the book, Lucia steals more candy from the same store, so Tess confronts her and asks her why she does it. After that, Tess does not hang out with Lucia as much anymore. This teaches readers that stealing is not right and that they should not surround themselves with those types of people. I do not appreciate Wendy Lichtman teaches this next lesson, which is also through Tess. This happens when Tess discovers math patterns of graffiti on the wall by her school and she responds to them in number codes, which is illegal. Her conversations with this mysterious person are about who started the fire in her computer teacher’s classroom. Even though Tess is trying to help discover who is behind this arson case, she additionally brings her best friends into this situation, which could make them suspended from school. Although Tess is not trying to do anything harmful on purpose, because she is caught, she becomes suspended for four days, influencing readers by telling them that it is alright to do illegal actions and just deal with the consequences. When Tess’s mom asks her if anybody else is involved with writing graffiti, Tess lies and responds no. This teaches readers that it is more important to lie to protect friends instead of telling the truth and learning what is right, which reminds me of morals versus values.
Do the Math #2: The Writing on the Wall
By Wendy Lichtman
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 6 - 8 | Grades 10 - 9 | n/a | 5.7 | 34867 |
Eighth grade, like algebra, has become pretty complicated for Tess. For one thing, there are the patterns she's noticing everywhere—like how charming-on-the-outside Richard keeps playing scary pranks on her, and how annoying copycat Lynn always has to follow what everyone else is doing. Then there's the pattern of graffiti that keeps appearing on the wall by her school—could those numbers be a code meant for Tess? Is it up to her to find out what they mean? And most importantly, if Damien keeps up with his pattern of waiting for her after school, does it mean he likes her? Or is that just a coincidental system?
Tess looks for formulas to help her figure it all out, but she's afraid there may be none. Sometimes you have to make up your own solutions.
Sometimes, you just have to risk it.
Book Reviews (2)
this book is like a mystery book. u want to know what's going to happen next. a great book. i recommend it!!