The Calculus of Change

November 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-Aden and Tate "meet cute" over calculus. She notices his yarmulke, and he knows she can help him with a calculus problem. Despite his having a girlfriend, their friendship quickly develops into one of intimate confidences with a zing of attraction. The novel's events unfold over most of senior year. Aden is dealing with a lot on the homefront-her grief over her mother's death 10 years ago, her father's loss expressed through bouts of rage, best friend Marissa's inappropriate relationship with a teacher, and brother Jon's increasing drug use. As her relationship with Tate intensifies, Aden must decide if she can accept their relationship as it is or if she deserves more. The protagonist is a realistic and sympathetic heroine whose struggles with body image, love, and family issues will resonate with teens. Although this is described as a romance, that is too neat of a box for the messy complications of life that this story attempts to explore. VERDICT Recommended for purchase where realistic fiction without easy solutions is popular.-Kefira Phillipe, Nichols Middle School, Evanston, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2017
It's not just Tate's two-toned blue yarmulke that makes Aden fall in love with him, but it sure helps.Aden can't help but fall for Tate's "audacity and spirit" in calculus class. Aden's white and Jewish--or is she Jewish, really? She's unsure: her mother was Jewish but died when Aden was 7, and Aden's felt unconnected with Jewishness ever since. What she's sure of--and what readers will revel in--is her chemistry with Tate, who's also white. Their flirting is electric, and he looks at her with eyes "full of light." But Tate expects Aden not to interpret his constant touches "like that"--because he has a girlfriend. Is Aden off the table for Tate because she's fat? "Can a girl be pretty if she's also fat?" Tate's "audacity" extends to disrespect: he wants Aden for sparkly flirting and emotional intimacy (and calculus tutoring, but clearly that's not all)--but not dating. Aden's voice is funny ("I should probably stop contemplating everyone's underwear") and emotional. Her process of grounding herself includes reclaiming and grieving for her mother in the face of her angry father; pondering Judaism; songwriting and singing; boundary decisions about her relationships with Tate, her brother, and her best friend; and reclaiming swimming, which she stopped due to self-consciousness. Whether swimming brings weight loss is ambiguous.Full of heart. (Fiction. 13-17)

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December 4, 2017
Aden Matthews is love-struck by Tate Newman, who is in her calculus class, and he seems to like her back, even though he has a girlfriend. Their growing friendship is almost all Aden can think about, but readers quickly learn that her life is brimming with complications that go beyond unrequited love. Hilb packs her debut novel with enough serious subjects to fill multiple books: Aden still feels the absence of her mother 10 years after her death, her angry father hasn’t fully dealt with it either, her brother has a drug problem, her best friend is having an affair with a teacher, and there’s an attempted sexual assault, an unplanned pregnancy, and Aden’s body image insecurity, as well. Hilb layers one topic over another, yet her novel remains breezy, never really tackling them with much depth. Short chapters, framed around Aden’s memories and interactions, leap from one challenge to the next in a way that makes the story a fast, engrossing read, but one that doesn’t entirely do justice to everything it attempts to address. Ages 14–up. Agent: Renee Nyen, KT Literary.

November 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 The attraction between them is instant. As Tate tells Aden, it's as if they are meant to be fast friends. Aden falls hard, and as she begins regularly meeting with Tate to tutor him in calculus, she grows increasingly certain that he has feelings for her. Why, then, does he continue his relationship with Maggie? Is it because Aden isn't fashionably thin? Meanwhile, although Aden's perplexing relationship with Tate tears at her heart, she is also coping with the fallout of her mother's death 10 years earlier, as her father struggles with anger issues and her younger brother turns self-destructive. And there is the increasingly risky sexual behavior of her best friend, Marissa. Debut novelist Hilb also shows how Aden finds solace in solving complex calculus problems, as well as in music. All of these subplots add dimension to Aden's story, creating a slice-of-life feel rather than focusing solely on her romantic obsession with Tate. Give this to readers who like the character-driven novels of authors such as Sarah Dessen, Sara Zarr, or Lauren Myracle.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
When high-school senior Aden tutors and becomes close to her classmate Tate, his connection with Judaism leads Aden to explore her late mother's Jewish roots and her family's grief. Short chapters and amiable narration make for an easy read amid serious topics (a friend's relationship with a teacher; Aden's brother's drug use; difficulty affording college). Aden's search for what's important to her is thought-provoking.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)