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64th out of 270 books
—
740 voters
The Unknowns: A Mystery
In a trailer park called Adjacent, next to the Folsom Energy Plant, people have started to vanish, and no one seems to care. At first Lady Di and her best friend, Tom Jones, barely notice the disappearances—until their beloved math tutor, Mrs. Clarke, is abducted, too. Mrs. Clarke has left them clues in the form of math equations that lead them all over the trailer park, t...more
Hardcover, 260 pages
Published
April 1st 2009
by Harry N. Abrams
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This book fills a unique niche in the mystery genre --- there is drama, excitement, pulse-racing action, but there is also some very serious math too. I was a bit skeptical going in, but there is a lot to this book and the author pulls it off.
It takes place on an island that contains Folsom Energy Plant and the Adjacent Trailer Park. Carey does a superb job evoking this place --- the trash, the kind-but-somewhat-down-and-out inhabitants, the ways of trailer park living. As Deborah Stevenson note...more
It takes place on an island that contains Folsom Energy Plant and the Adjacent Trailer Park. Carey does a superb job evoking this place --- the trash, the kind-but-somewhat-down-and-out inhabitants, the ways of trailer park living. As Deborah Stevenson note...more
Enjoyed this immensely. The main characters are 11, so I guess that's the target audience. This is a mystery, which weaves in some age-appropriate mathematics such as coordinate geometry, the Pythagorean theorem, and slope. And you know how much I love slope! People have been disappearing from the town of Adjacent, which is conveniently shaped like a perfect circle - well, I guess a disc, really - with two pipes crossing at the center. Mrs. Clarke, who has been tutoring the kids, is the latest t...more
As a math teacher I should have enjoyed this book, since it uses math, specifically the Pythagorean Theorem, coordinate geometry and circle formulae to solve the mystery of the disappearing people. It started out in a fairly promising way, with a sense of foreboding that sinister events are unfolding. People disappear, people are threatened, and bad things seem to be happening for no apparent reason. But the plot is skimpy, as though it was constructed as an excuse for the kids to use math skill...more
Tom Jones and Di, two kids from Adjacent, are trying to find their friend, and math tutor Malba Clarke. This is quite odd, because nothing much happens in Adjacent, but suddenly workers of the nuclear plant start going missing. Tom and Di start finding clues they believe Mrs.Clarke left for them, because they all involve math. With the help of Hamilton Rowan ,Thea Hutchison, both known as mental cases, Oki, the wise words of Mrs.Clarke, and their own problem solving skills, they stop the Folsom...more
Life is not a heck of a lot of fun when you live in a trailer park on a small California coastal island that's home to an underground nuclear plant. It gets even less fun when people start disappearing for no reason. Then Malba Clarke--unofficial math tutor for several island children--disappears, and the kids decide enough is enough. They're going to find out what's happening, and it seems as if Mrs. Clarke has left them a clue--an obscure, mathematical clue that challenges their brains and lea...more
My dad's friend who is a writer gave me this book to read. When he gave me the book I wasn't ready to read it. I was glad that this year I could finally read it.
I really enjoyed this book but I have to admit when I first picked it up I was a little unsure. I thought it may have a little too much math. But it completely surprised me that it was a mystery and that the math was fun and not a big deal. This book is about two kids (my age) who live in a trailer park on a small island called Adjacent...more
I really enjoyed this book but I have to admit when I first picked it up I was a little unsure. I thought it may have a little too much math. But it completely surprised me that it was a mystery and that the math was fun and not a big deal. This book is about two kids (my age) who live in a trailer park on a small island called Adjacent...more
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The story takes place in a trailer park called Adjacent, next to the Folsom Energy Plant. People have started to vanish, and some of the behavior of some kids who wander Adjacent behavior has also changed. Lady Di and her best friend, Tom Jones, barely notice the disappearances—until their beloved math tutor, Mrs. Clarke, is abducted. Mrs. Clarke left clues in the form of math equations that lead them all over the trailer park, through hidden tunnels under “Mount Trashmore,” and into the Folsom...more
Jul 21, 2009
Claire
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
9 and up, family and classroom read aloud
A clever mystery-adventure. Set in Folsom Adjacent- the site of a nuclear reactor adjacent to Crotona inhabited by generations of plant workers the story reminds me of Chasing Vermeer meets My 100 Adventures.
Lady Di (read the book if you want to know how a pudgy, 11 year-old red head got that name) and Tom Jones are sweating out the summer before they enter the dreaded Middle School in Crotona where kids like them are routinely eaten for lunch. What they wish for is a diversion, a disaster to t...more
Lady Di (read the book if you want to know how a pudgy, 11 year-old red head got that name) and Tom Jones are sweating out the summer before they enter the dreaded Middle School in Crotona where kids like them are routinely eaten for lunch. What they wish for is a diversion, a disaster to t...more
A fresh idea: kids solving a mystery using math. "Lady Di" and "Tom Jones" (real name Tamir) are friends who live in a trailer park named Adjacent, because it's adjacent to an underground nuclear power plant. When their favorite elder lady math tutor disappears from her home, Di and Tom set out to follow the mathematical clues she's left behind for them to figure out. The math was fairly complex, involving plotting coordinates and geometry, and I got a little lost on it but they explain everythi...more
Enjoyed it a lot - thanks, Rebecca! G liked it a lot too. Fun with the math problems embedded in the story. I liked the writing style too.
Interesting that her best friend read the other edition, titled simply "The Unkowns" for a book report and it was on my To Read list. Somehow I had a wrong edition in Good Reads (the ebook version, no idea how nor why it is not connected to these hard copy versions) and didn't realize they were the same book. Fun to read it after so many recommendations!!
Read...more
Interesting that her best friend read the other edition, titled simply "The Unkowns" for a book report and it was on my To Read list. Somehow I had a wrong edition in Good Reads (the ebook version, no idea how nor why it is not connected to these hard copy versions) and didn't realize they were the same book. Fun to read it after so many recommendations!!
Read...more
I didn't know what to expect when I picked the book up, the title was interesting, the cover was cool, and the brief summary of the story seemed intriguing, but I wasn't totally convinced it was going to be good. After the first page I was hooked. The way the author ties in math with the story was really imaginative. It was sometimes hard for me to follow, but I think it's because I'm not really a math person. Realisitc characters and a great story.
Aug 26, 2009
Marilyn
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
5th - 7th grade
Shelves:
mystery,
realistic-fiction
This is one of those books like The Westing Game or Chasing Vermeer that teachers, in particular math teachers, will want their students to read. It was a fun mystery and the math problems the two main protagonists had to figure out were woven into the story well. The storyline itself strained the bounds of believability, but was interesting enough that I think kids will enjoy it.
A great one to booktalk with upper elementary and MS right now as nuclear power and the problems with power plants has been in the news. Two MS age kids who live in a trailer park near a plant find themselves using math to solve a mysterious equation that a tutor has left behind. I dislike math and I still liked this book!
Interesting plot for a mystery involving lots and lots of math. For reasons I am unable to define it felt very dark and kinda gritty for a kids book. Not in a bad way, just an odd feeling for a kids book. Also, I didn't feel the characters were very easy to connect with. I didn't really care about them much.
This was an interesting story - and I really liked the way the characters used mathematics to solve the mystery - although sadly I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't actually understand it all.
Recommended for the younger reader.
Recommended for the younger reader.
Another Battle of the Books novel that I did not enjoy. The author tried so hard to make a clever math mystery that he forgot to write a coherent story. So many plot twists and clues with no point.
I couldn't put this one down! I'm often skeptical when authors add math to a tale but this one made me want to know the answers not despair because I couldn't figure them out. A nice mix between Bridge to Terabithia, City of Ember and Chasing Vermeer.
I had to give it 4 stars. those math puzzles were hard! Its a kids story with collage level math. it was so fun trying to work out the puzzles with the characters.
this is an awesome book its full of mystery frinship supense all the good stuff you so need to read it its amazing
May 16, 2009
Martha
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
5th-7th graders
Shelves:
middle-school,
2009
Mystery/adventure with math puzzles - more intense than Balliet's. Too bad the math seemed to chop up the story.
A mystery with lots of math thrown in. There were some pretty interesting characters in this as well.
mixture of mystery (not my favorite genre) and math (not my best subject) still a good fast-paced read
Interesting - it included some mathematics within the story. Better than I would have guessed.
for review go to http://skoobdoog.wordpress.com/2011/0...
Suspenseful tale with lots of mathematical puzzles for the young heroes to solve in order to get to the bottom of what's going on there on the island where everyone lives in trailers and works at the nuclear power plant.
A fun book, but I was confused about who was narrating the book!
Was getting a bit dry and confusing... but an interesting take and interesting mystery
Fun mystery with math clues.
Blech! Too much math...
See my reviews at the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Book Nook at www.reviewjournal.com/blogs/booknook
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