Crushable Dissects: Danica McKellar’s ‘Hot X: Algebra Exposed’

“Look at this cover…what do you see?” I asked several male friends of mine last night, while showing off Danica McKellar new book, Hot X: Algebra Exposed. Danica, best remembered as Winnie from The Wonder Years, has made a post-television name for herself as being a “hot math geek,” writing two other books that try to trick girls into thinking math is sexy. Not that math can’t be sexy! (Though let’s be honest, it probably can’t.) The way that Danica does it however, is slightly condescending to her audience. Observe:
“I see a kind of hot chick on a Maxim book.” one guy friend observed.
“If this is a book about math, why are they having quizzes like a magazine and talking about boys?” another asked, confused.

And there we hit the first speed bump in Danica’s follow-up to Math Doesn’t Suck and Kiss My Math: If you were going to judge a book by its cover, Hot X would be very confusing. Laid out like a magazine spread, the book first promotes its “sexxxy for men” imagery with that giant “X” and a picture of Danica smiling above the word “hot.” Okay, fine, are we teaching guys how to do Algebra during sex? No? Okay then. Then we get to the cover lines:

“Boy crazy confessionals!” “5 minutes to a better mood!” and my personal favorite, “Are you bold or shy, take this quiz!” Again: what does this have to do with teaching Algebra in a fun, relatable way? Are the quizzes somehow related to math? Do the boy confessionals actually turn into Algebra problems? (Imagine your boyfriend is 30 minutes late for your date, on a graph where x solves for time and y solves for how much you are going to put out tonight….) No. They do not.

Despite sexy headlines that promise the combination of math and relationship advice, like “Chapter 23: Boyfriend or Special Friend: Factoring Special Polynomials,” the book keeps its two very distinct parts separate: one part math, one part distraction. Maybe it’s to give your brain a break so you don’t get tired of equations and go pick up Seventeen or something.

Either way, the math part is actually done in a pretty conversational, fun way. I could have used this book in high school, but I probably would have been so turned off by the “trying too hard” title and cover to give it a shot. Guess you shouldn’t judge a book by its blah blah blah, you get the point.