Very Bad at Math
by Hope Larson; illus. by the author
Middle School    HarperAlley/HarperCollins    240 pp.
1/25    9780063311299    $24.99
Paper ed.  9780063311282    $15.99
e-book ed.  9780063311305    $10.99

Verity “Very” Nelson is very good at many things: she has just won her third term as student council president and is called “the gold standard of middle school politics.” She is also first chair clarinet, has the highest grades in English and social studies, is undefeated in the debate club, and can do the most pushups in gym class. But math? That’s not going so well. And if she doesn’t pass it, the principal will force her to resign from student council. After intensive tutorials and studying, her grade is still low. When she transposes numbers on a custom T-shirt order for a fundraiser and it results in hundreds of unreturnable shirts for dogs (“Shirtgate”), her teacher realizes this wasn’t just a clerical error: Verity has dyscalculia, a math learning disability. This engaging graphic novel sheds light on middle-school dynamics, bullying, and the lesser-known learning disability of dyscalculia in a way that’s respectful and sensitive (though there is a brief, incorrect reference to ADHD as a learning disability). Panels take a variety of shapes and sizes that jigsaw together in visually appealing ways. Readers will be rooting for Very, who shows us that while people who have learning disabilities may be challenged by them, they may also be gifted in other ways.

From the March/April 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.