Questions About The Math Olympian

by Richard Hoshino (Goodreads Author)

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Richard Hoshino Thanks so much for your question, Lynn!

All of the characters are fictional, but they are hybrids of real people who have influenced my life. For exam…moreThanks so much for your question, Lynn!

All of the characters are fictional, but they are hybrids of real people who have influenced my life. For example, Bethany (the main character) meets several mentors throughout the course of the book; all of her mentors are inspired by actual mentors I’ve had over the past twenty years, who modeled innovative teaching techniques and showed me that mathematics isn’t about memorizing formulas or rules (in high school) or about memorizing theorems and proofs (in university).

Also the settings of various scenes parallel some of my own personal experiences. For example, all of Chapter 2 is set in Ottawa, Ontario, at a week-long event called the Canadian Math Society “National Math Camp”. I was the co-director of this Math Camp for seven years, and so I could draw upon my experiences as a coach and trainer to create a set of quirky and interesting characters, and show how difficult problems can be solved in a myriad of elegant ways.

Given all of my experiences, as well as the mentorship I have received from so many world-class teachers, I felt that I could write a fictional novel that would grab and inspire readers, to reveal how math can be taught in an inspiring and creative way, and show how mathematics develops problem-solving skills, daring, critical-thinking and imagination – the types of skills Canadians require if we’re going to be at the forefront of innovation in the 21st century.

That was my motivation for writing "The Math Olympian". I hope you enjoy the story!(less)

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