The Math Inspectors Review
There is a missing piece in kids’ literature that I have noticed as a reader, writer, and homeschooling mom. This is the reason I was excited to write this Math Inspectors review.
You see, somewhere between The Magic Treehouse and a plethora of YA trilogies, there’s a big gap in nurturing, enjoyable chapter series for the kids in between–the tweens!
By “nurturing,” I mean literature that cultivates moral qualities, thinking skills, and maybe even some educational topics. Finding this kind of content for younger kids seems to be much easier, but once they hit the upper elementary ages, literature like this becomes scarcer. That’s unfortunate because this is a peak, formative reading time.
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At this “tween” age, kids are confident readers, but they’re also innocent–and still figuring out the kind of people they want to be. I know that a lot of parents (myself included) would be interested in more chapter books for this age bracket that keep up with our kids’ interests and intelligence while protecting that innocence, too.
This glaringly empty spot on the bookshelves is one reason I was excited to learn about Bakken Books’ mission and to do this Math Inspectors review.
Bakken Books is an independent publishing company that is specifically publishing wholesome and fun chapter books for kids, including older kids! In learning more about this company, I jumped at the chance to review one of their series for tween readers: The Math Inspectors by Daniel Kenney and Emily Boever.
The Math Inspectors Review – Basics About the Series
Let’s talk about some numbers first, as it seems appropriate for this series! The Math Inspectors is a mystery series for ages 9-12 about a group of twelve-year-old friends who use their love for math as a crime-fighting weapon. There are 5 books in the series, and each one is approximately 150 pages long. The story follows four (later five) diversely gifted characters: Stanley, Charlotte, Gertie, Felix (and later Herman).
Each character brings a unique personality and set of skills to the Math Inspectors group, although they all share a love of math. Likewise, each book in the series has its own distinctive feeling and setting while tackling different mysteries that are tied to the kids’ hometown of Ravensburg, New York. Because each book is so distinctive and does a good job reintroducing the characters, your child can read independently. However, the books build upon one another a bit in terms of plot and character development.
This series revisits a familiar concept for most kids. The premise of friends solving crime together is classic, and it’s popular for a reason. Kids are naturally drawn to mysteries, perhaps because they are constantly in a state of figuring things out in life! If your kids have ever enjoyed Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, or Scooby Doo, The Math Inspectors premise will appeal to them. In fact, there are several self-aware references made by the group of friends about their similarities to the Scooby Gang.
However, the authors put a totally original spin on this premise by writing main characters who are unabashed math lovers. Their love of numbers makes their squad a little bit nerdy (the cool kind of nerdy), quirky, and gives them their crime-fighting abilities.
Personally, this twist was what really intrigued me about the series to begin with. I have never encountered any book series that weaves math into the plot before. However, I absolutely love that concept, especially in a kids’ book series. It also makes sense for the mystery genre because, as Stanley says: “If we find the right numbers, we find the truth.” The Math Inspectors authors have hit on something uniquely brilliant in this concept. As a homeschooling parent, it also grabs my attention because I love it when subjects can cross over in a way that’s fun and accessible. In reviewing this series, I decided to read it with my daughter, who just turned 8 a couple of weeks ago. Here are some of our thoughts!
Thoughts on The Math Inspectors
I appreciated several things about The Math Inspectors series as a parent and educator (more about those later). However, I wanted to start by sharing with you the element my daughter and I loved about The Math Inspectors. (Spoiler: it wasn’t what I was expecting.) Most of all, we both completely enjoyed the dialogue and characters in these books!
The conversations between the characters are so well-written, quirky, and fun! Several times when reading the books together, we found ourselves laughing out loud at the dialogue between Stanley and his friends. In fact, the conversations made it very easy to visualize the story. I could easily see this series being adapted into a television series (I think it would be a hit!) My daughter is a little younger than the target audience, so every once in a while, some of the banter would go over her head. However, I don’t think this is a bad thing. In fact, it really gets at another one of this series’ strengths; the books don’t talk down to their target age range of 9-12.
In an 8-year-old’s words: “My favorite thing about The Math Inspectors books are the characters. They are smart and funny, and I feel like they like a lot of the same things I do.”
This is important feedback. If kids don’t enjoy reading a series, or connect with its characters, then you don’t have readers! I think these books’ authors have done a great job creating characters that will draw young readers in and make them feel like they are reading about kids with whom they could be friends. Because of this, I wasn’t too surprised to discover that Daniel Kenney is a father of eight who teaches high school. Emily Boever also has eight children, is a homeschooling mom, and teaches other students in addition to her own. The authors’ collective knowledge of kids and how they interact with each other shines through in this series! Also, in keeping with Bakken Books’ mission, the main characters are wholesome (not to be confused with “perfect”). Stanley and the gang value friendship, model creative problem-solving, and love helping their community. For example, in book #3, The Case of the Christmas Caper, the kids spend Christmas Eve trying to save Christmas for children at a local hospital.
Sometimes a result of creating “clean” content can be characters who are too saintly, a little bit flat, or just unrelatable to the audience. While this series is very clean, it also tackles the task of “wholesome characters” with quirkiness and humor that kids in this age range can relate to.
In summary, the characters are the real heartbeat of this series. They’re smart, wholesome, big-hearted oddballs, and I think your kids will love them.
The Math Part of the Math Inspectors
Now let’s talk about math (and mysteries)! A huge variety of math is being used in these books to solve the cases the kids encounter. From plotting maps to creating graphs, calculating percentages, figuring out how many miles per hour someone was driving…the list goes on. A lot of the math concepts involved are ones that ages 9-12 will be familiar with. However, I also think some of them are pretty difficult for the average 9-12-year-old. Since the characters explain their processes, this could be helpful in an inductive teaching kind of way. In fact, I believe that’s the authors’ intention.
Pictured here is one of the creative ways math is integrated into each mystery.
Consideration for younger readers: Does your child enjoy rising to a challenge? Or will they feel frustrated if the math problems they encounter in this series seem too advanced? For example, a lot of the math in these books was too difficult for my 2nd grader. She is the kind of kid who puts a lot of pressure on herself and gets easily frustrated when confused. When we encountered math problems above her level in these books, I explained ahead of time that there would be math concepts she hadn’t learned yet, but that we could still talk about them. For her, that little disclaimer was helpful. If you have a child who gets easily frustrated when confused or is on the younger side of the age range, you may want to give them a heads-up about this and/or offer to work through the problems with them.
As a STEM enthusiast, I really appreciated the variety of hands-on uses for math that the authors bring in as the characters solve mysteries throughout the books. For all kids, but especially those who don’t love math, it’s important to see how it can play a role in our daily lives. Sure, we aren’t all going to join mystery-solving clubs. However, most of the math used in The Math Inspectors is very practical. The fact that it is applied to solve mysteries just makes it that much cooler.
If you have a math-resistant reader at home who enjoys good mysteries, this series could be a good way to ease them into a different mindset about math. If you have a math lover at home, then he or she will love the puzzles and challenges that these stories provide. Speaking of that, each book also includes “Do You Have What it Takes to be a Math Inspector?” word problems at the end of each book. For the reader who is eagerly solving the math problems along with the main characters, this is a cool, personalized challenge. If you’re a homeschooling parent or just looking for a different way to incorporate some math into your child’s learning, this series could be a fun way to do it.
The mysteries themselves are quite different from book to book, and they each explore a trope familiar to the mystery genre. The first book is a classic “who-dun-it” about a missing diamond. The second one was my daughter’s favorite because it takes place around Halloween (it has those spooky vibes she loves in a mystery). The third book is also seasonal, with a Christmas setting. The fourth book features an amusement park, and the fifth takes place in an old mining town. All of these premises are somewhat familiar when it comes to kids’ mysteries.
However, the clever application of math problems, and the unique characters, make them stand out from anything else I’ve encountered. I was extremely impressed by how the authors considered math as they were creating the storylines and how math was used and explained throughout each case. I also thought that the mysteries got progressively more complex and interesting as the series progressed.
In conclusion, The Math Inspectors by Daniel Kenney and Emily Boever is a very well-written series that meets a need in the world of upper elementary literature. It is original, fun, wholesome, educational, and incredibly clever. Mystery-loving kids between ages 9-12 are sure to enjoy the quirky and relatable characters and solving crimes alongside The Math Inspectors.
The diverse use of math within this series makes for a fun way to engage your math-resistant child or to challenge and inspire your math-loving kiddo. While the series is free of any objectionable content, it also doesn’t talk down to older children. You can tell that the authors are very familiar with how kids around this age learn and relate to one another!
My daughter and I primarily enjoyed this series because it is smart, fun, and full of heart. I definitely recommend it to other families!
How to Order The Math Inspectors from Bakken Books
You can read sample chapters and order The Math Inspectors series or any of the other exciting series from Bakken Books by visiting their website here.
Their other series include:
About the Reviewer, Katie
Katie is a Christian, wife, writer, and homeschooling mother of two. She and her husband are both homeschool graduates who now homeschool their children. Katie is passionate about literature, the arts, STEM, and education. Katie has a MA in English and literature, and she works with her local STEM organization and Classical Conversations community to help create hands-on learning opportunities for children. She teaches NASA Astro Camp every summer, and she loves to read and paint whenever she can. She believes that the arts and sciences have much more in common than many people realize!
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I hold a master’s degree in child development and early education and am working on a post-baccalaureate in biology. I spent 15 years working for a biotechnology company developing IT systems in DNA testing laboratories across the US. I taught K4 in a private school, homeschooled my children, and have taught on the mission field in southern Asia. For 4 years, I served on our state’s FIRST Lego League tournament Board and served as the Judging Director. I own thehomeschoolscientist and also write a regular science column for Homeschooling Today Magazine. You’ll also find my writings on the CTCMath blog. Through this site, I have authored over 50 math and science resources.