The Math Olympian

As a small-town girl in Nova Scotia bullied for liking numbers more than boys, and lacking the encouragement of her unsupportive single mother who frowns at her daughter's unrealistic ambition, Bethany MacDonald's road to the International Math Olympiad has been marked by numerous challenges.

Read more

Through persistence, perseverance, and the support of innovative mentors who inspire her with a love of learning, Bethany confronts these challenges and develops the creativity and confidence to reach her potential.

In training to become a world-champion "mathlete", Bethany discovers the heart of mathematics - a subject that's not about memorizing formulas, but rather about problem-solving and detecting patterns to uncover truth, as well as learning how to apply the deep and unexpected connections of mathematics to every aspect of her life, including athletics, spirituality, and environmental sustainability.

As Bethany reflects on her long journey and envisions her exciting future, she realizes that she has shattered the misguided stereotype that only boys can excel in math, and discovers a sense of purpose that through mathematics, she can and she will make an extraordinary contribution to society.

Audience
young adult
Length
long · 496 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The Math Olympian? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Math Olympian. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Mathematical Olympiad Challenges Shares math, mathematics
  2. Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly Shares young adult, fiction
  3. Linear and Geometric Algebra Shares math, mathematics
  4. Aventurine Shares young adult

“People who read The Math Olympian tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Legacy Letters: his Wife, his Children, his Final Gift
  2. Visions of Infinity: The Great Mathematical Problems
  3. Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History
  4. I Want to Be a Mathematician: An Automathography

“If you want more of the same (science), start with these.”

  1. The Art of Problem Solving, Volume 1: The Basics
  2. Arrowsmith / Elmer Gantry / Dodsworth
  3. Abstract Algebra
  4. Ordinary Differential Equations

“If it was the math that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. كشف أسرار الجبر
  2. Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics, Volume 49: Enumerative Combinatorics, Volume 1
  3. Fourier Series
  4. College Algebra Demystified

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Math Potatoes: Mind-stretching Brain Food
  2. The Art and Craft of Problem Solving
  3. How the Brain Learns Mathematics
  4. What's Math Got to Do with It?: How Teachers and Parents Can Transform Mathematics Learning and Inspire Success