Last to Finish – A Story about the Smartest Boy in Math Class {Hardcover} (Grades 1-4)

The Adventures of Everyday Geniuses series is through the Mainstream Connections Publishing Company

As a child who was shy, I didn’t really like group activities in my public school, especially timed activities that were meant to inspire children in learning.  I distinctly remember a game we played in grade school and early middle school called ‘Buzz’ where the math teacher would throw a ball around the classroom and each child would have to catch and call out the math answers to questions in a spitfire manner.  If you got the answer wrong, your teacher and classmates would yell “BUZZ!”.  I dreaded that game; not because I didn’t know the answers, it was because I couldn’t think on the spot in a crowd at that time.  It always ended up being fine, but the amount of anxiety and embarrassment that I felt as I waited for the dreaded ‘Buzz’ ball could be a little overwhelming for me and it was always a relief to escape the classroom.  This is coming from a kid who actually liked math!  As we know, all kids (really, people in general) learn differently and while some kids thrive on group pressure there are also kids that get that ‘mind freeze’ when put on the spot or in timed exercises that can lead to feelings of failure and disappointment.  The book Last to Finish is an exceptional book from the student’s perspective of how being the last to finish in certain circumstances does not make you smart, or even, an everyday genius!

Last to Finish: A Story about the Smartest Boy in Math Class is a book from the Adventures of Everyday Geniuses Series that focuses on children who struggle with specific learning issues and how most of the time this results from children learning differently from one another.  In this book Max ,a third-grader, started falling behind in his favorite subject of math when his teacher began using a timer for testing the class on multiplication facts.  His test anxiety mixed with possible other issues not mentioned since Max is having a hard time with working out smaller numbers which could hint at having dyscalculia, has made Max decide ‘math is just not my thing’!  He is sad and embarrassed to be singled out in class and picked on for being slow.  It’s not until it is later revealed to Max and his parents that he has an aptitude for algebra, which is very advanced for his age.  His teachers decide to put him in a special math class to help him work out his multiplication issues and start honing his obvious gift of understanding large mathematical problems in an analytical way.    This would be a great read for children ages 6 and up who may be struggling with learning in the classroom and in particular math.  It also would be a nice read for kids to understand that some kids do struggle with different kinds of learning and to be accepting of these different aptitudes and strengths.

Bonus!  Check out the Mainstream Connections website and check out their recommended reading Resource List!

About the Adventures of Everyday Geniuses:  The Adventures of Everyday Geniuses series is through the Mainstream Connections Publishing Company from Maryland that was designed to encourage children through stories of students who struggle in certain areas while excelling in others.  Their mission includes the desire to make each story introduce a learning style or learning difference, while offering realistic examples of triumph over difficulty.  The other three books in this series include; If You’re So Smart, How Come Your Can’t Spell Mississippi (dyslexia), Mrs. Gorski, I Think I Have the Wiggle Fidgets (ADHD) and Stacey Collidge’s Fancy Smancy Cursive Handwriting (writing struggles).  Great stuff!

Last to Finish – A Story about the Smartest Boy in Math Class {Hardcover} (Grades 1-4)

www.theadventuresofeverydaygeniuses.com

List Price: $16.95 (Currently $14.41 through Amazon.com)