AfterMath, by Emily Barth Isler (Carolrhoda Books, 2021, $17.99, 272 pp, grades 5-8, ages 11 and up)
A mass shooting incident in their classroom four years earlier. . . .
The Perfect Title
AfterMath: What happens after Math class for Lucy? What does aftermath mean in this story - does it always mean that which happens after an unpleasant event?
The Cover
Lucy is in a classroom with empty chairs in a hodge-podge circle, moving toward the reader. Above her we see a sphere, angles and triangles probably ascending, and the infinity symbol (a theme which plays a major role in the story). Bright sunlight is streaming into the classroom, creating shadows, and the colored triangles, although triangles, remind one of balloons or kites (round or angular or both at the same time).
The Flow
Author Emily Isler has that rare gift for a first-time author, for putting the reader smack dab into the midst of her story. She doesn't tell us what happens - she shows us what happens. We are there. We are the girl, and the mother, and the father. Being a story teller with a background in acting, Isler encompasses in AfterMath three to four months in the life of a seventh-grade girl, new to the town and her school, where, four years previously a shooting incident occurred and is still constantly on everyone's mind. Lucy herself experienced the death of her younger brother just a few months ago but there are more differences than similarities there. Or are there?
Isler's style is melodic, flowing, rhythmic yet reminiscent of under-the-surface tragedy and dealing with the grief that remains. How it can appeal to both the middle school set and to adults is something she must have worked hard and long to create.
We would have read it in one sitting if night had not come too early, so we finished it the next day. Along the way, we found it a bit too drawn out and we wondered how it would end - would it tie all the loose threads together and would everyone live happily ever after? We simply could not imagine how. . . .
Each chapter starts with a math problem (and solution) but some seem a bit difficult for a seventh-grader and we were amazed at the fact she loved all the subsets of math, even geometry where you must prove things that seem obvious!
Not only is our Lucy 'mathy' but she is also a good, true friend and a normal middle-school girl with her first crush on a boy. She befriends a girl that others shun and also has a wise side - perhaps too wise to be believable for her age but we also see her foibles. Nevertheless, we all learn from Lucy as she learns from her math teacher, from her after-school mime class, and from her classmates.
It's hard to believe that 'mathy' people can be fun or even funny but Lucy receives math jokes from someone unknown. She writes math jokes in return and we are surprised to find out who it is and why he/she started the tradition. You may find it hard to believe there actually are math jokes but you will have fun with them! (What kind of meals do math teachers eat? Square ones!)
Comparing Math With Life?
Author Isler has penned a unique award-winning novel for middle-schoolers, telling them that "Math Can Be Cool" and that friends and family can help us get over a traumatic event, even a shared trauma if we give it enough time and space. Our Lucy is both a 'mathy' person and a liberal arts person who finds she is also good at mime but especially good at being kind and honest and a friend. She is not only one of us but she is all of us. I can't wait for Isler's next book.
And, did you know Emily Barth Isler was a speaker at Columbia, Maryland's 2023 Books in Bloom? She was born and raised here in the Village of Hickory Ridge - perhaps you even know her from school!
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