Math City Review

Math City
~Written by Ahmad Amani 

Math City by Ahmad Amani is uniquely written in that the book is the city and the streets are the pages within it. Readers are introduced to characters that are products of mathematical equations, but the significance of these characters is much more than mere numbers.

Math City is very wealthy, but is of no "importance to the world's people, except for the money." One of its citizens is the Lying Line. All the numbers in Math City are fearful of him. He prowls around and subtracts something from the other numbers and if he changes them to zero it is equal to death. Zero was "everywhere and nowhere," none of the other numbers viewed Zero as relevant. Being Zero was a sad life. Try as he might, Zero was unable to get any of the other numbers to heed his warnings and they soon begin to quarrel. The low numbers were angry at the Lying Line for taking from them and the larger numbers were upset with the Upward Lying Line for making them fat. If not for the Upward Lying Line, Math City would not have been so powerful, but nonetheless even the boss of Math City, Seven Million, took sides. Will Math City ever find peace?

Math City is different than any story you've ever read. Although, it appears to be a simple story written to entertain children through the use of numbers and math, it is anything but simple. The underlying story of war, conflict, and human rights is cleverly interwoven  throughout the pages. Younger children may not grasp the story's true message and even some adults will miss it. Math City is a short story, but readers should take their time and absorb all the book has to offer.

Definitely a must read for children and adults. Math City is available on Amazon.com.

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