New Book Alert: The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Math Girls (The Adventures of Ruby Pi Book 2): Teen Heroines Use Geometry, Algebra, and Other Mathematics to Solve Colossal Problems; Ruby and Her Genius Colleagues Return in Five More Intelligent, Exciting, Educational, and Clever Stories
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: I will admit that I am a Literary Genius but a Math Dunce.
I excelled in English Writing and Literature classes and even tutored other students. I earned my BA in English from University of Missouri-St. Louis and Masters in Library Science from Indiana University-Indianapolis. I have turned my talents in Writing and Literature into a loved (and hopefully one day lucrative) career as a Book Reviewer and Editor.
However, Math was a different story. Math and Science were my worst subjects in school. I liked logic puzzles and code breaking because they involved analysis and deductive reasoning but those were the only Math problems that I actually liked.
I barely passed my undergraduate degree by taking Computer courses for Science credit and Contemporary Math (Math for everyday use like shopping and business AKA "Math for Dummies/English Majors") for Math. If it wasn't for those courses, I would either still be trying to get my BA or have long given up in frustration.
The reason that I am mentioning my terrible history with Math is to emphasize on how well Tom Durwood's The Adventures of Ruby Pi Series works. It works the same way many good educational PBS series do. It explains a subject that many Readers may have (and still might) have a hard time understanding and makes it clear and exciting to follow.
The second book, The Adventures of Ruby Pi and The Math Girls is more of the same. Excellent stories featuring intelligent young women using their mathematical skills in diverse ways to help the society around them.
Just like in the Geometry Girls, the book is separated into five stories. They are:
"Ruby Pi and The Case of the Shy Mathematician"
The eponymous protagonist/super genius is back. This time Rupa is called by Inspector Daniel Summerscale to solve the murder of mathematician, Anaan Warinda.
This case is a personal one for Rupa. Warinda was a mentor to the young woman and even encountered her as a child, giving her the nickname of Ruby Pi.
As with her previous experience, Rupa uses a mathematical procedure to solve Warinda's murder. This time she uses "Bayes's Rule" which states, "The probability of arriving at a true theorem improves upon the processing of new data." Some Mathematical theories are created as means to solve problems, not just with numbers.
Rupa is able to gather data to find a solution, especially in solving Warinda's complex coded notebooks. She finds herself involved in a much larger case involving the tense relationship between the English and Indian governments. She also earns respect and admiration from Inspector Summerscale and the Mathematical Society. It is definitely a period of ascension towards Rupa's character and status.
"Blue Moon Over Mogollons"
While Bayes's Rule may be new to some Readers, many are probably familiar with the concept of card counting and how highly intelligent gamblers use it to cheat the system and sometimes try to beat the house.
In Wild West, Silver City, Casey uses her talent for card counting to help her mother succeed in card games (even if Ma doesn't always listen). However, their latest caper involves some dangerous desperados and new weaponry.
In this story, we see how Casey is able to use her talents to help her family. However, we also see how this makes her an outsider towards them. Because of her advanced intelligence, Casey is able to see and long for a life outside of the saloons, gambling houses, and shoot outs. Casey's mother however lives only for her current pleasures like gambling and drinking. While Math is important to the story,"Blue Moon Over Mogollons" is mostly a family story about what happens when families have different incompatible views about what they want out of life.
"Pen's Black Swan"
As we learned from the previous volume, societies need economic and statistical forecasters to predict the financial turns that could occur. Just like with the weather, it would be good to listen and prepare ourselves.
This story is set in 1992 when Penelope West predicts that the stock market will undergo a black swan, an unpredictable and unforeseen event typically with extreme consequences. This is also the time when markets coalesced to force the British government to exit the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by removing its currency from the government.
Of the five stories, this is probably the least interesting. It covers similar ground to "Yan Li and the Numerators" and "Shawnee and The Visitor" in which a fictional person presents a real prediction but is shot down by reality. However, it does give some credence by people accepting Pen's views in the end. This and similar stories prove that we should never be too proud or arrogant to not listen to warnings. Sometimes, it's best to over prepare and be calm when something doesn't happen than to not prepare and be in the middle of the explosion wondering what we could have done differently.
"Jayani's Big Gamble"
Similar to "Blue Moon Over Mogollons" this is a family story disguised as a math lesson. Third Aunt who raised and trained her apprentice chef, Jayani, is ill. Jayani must raise money for her medical care but how? She uses her baking skills and knowledge of volume to make pottery and rent out kilns.
Jayani is a clever woman who is able to take charge during troubled times. She helps her aunt showing a strong familial love. She also is able to become a success achieving fame and wealth for her talents. She and her aunt are the opposite of Casey and her mother in that they show deep loyalty and encouragement.
"Sasha With the Red Hair"
We come to one of my favorite Mathematical puzzles, code breaking in probably my favorite story in this volume. It is similar in content to the previous volume's "Simone and the Mean Girls" involving an intelligent woman trying to solve a code while dealing with a vain and arrogant rival. Only this time, the rival is her sister.
Uly won the Vavilov for Mathematical achievement and she and her family are going to Moscow for the honor. Unfortunately, her sister Sasha ("with the red hair" the narrative says), gets the attention with her beauty and claiming credit for the achievement.
While in Moscow, Uly stumbles upon a secret Mayan codex and Sasha gets herself in trouble with the NKVD.
This story is a reminder of the old fairy tales in which a good hard working sibling triumphs over the bad tempered lazy sibling. Uly is a reminder of many who have been overlooked by peers, leaders, friends, and even family members because of better looking, louder, and more talented siblings. It can be hard to deal with when one's talents are so often overlooked. However, in this instance both sisters get exactly what they deserve in a clever roundabout way which finally rewards Uly's intelligence. While Sasha brings about her own comeuppance.
