MATHEMATICAL FICTION:

a list compiled by Alex Kasman (College of Charleston)

Home All New Browse Search About

...
Night of the Paranormal Patterns (2014)
Robert Black
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction by the same author)
...

A young adult novel that uses the fantasy adventure genre to introduce pre-algebra concepts. The protagonist, a seventh grader named Lennie, has been chosen as the "pattern finder" for werewolves, vampires and ghosts. As such, she must solve mathematical word problems of a supernatural nature.

I haven't read this book (or its sequel). I hope to get a chance to do so someday and will post more information here if I do. Or, if you have read it, please write to let me know what you thought of it, and I'll post your review here!

Contributed by Alex B

I have mixed feelings about this trilogy. On the positive side, there is a lot of math for middle school readers, with each book focusing on different mathematical topics. The first book covers graphing/charts/patterns, the second fractions, and the third equations. For a series aimed at pre-high school readers, these books contain a lot of math.

That said, this series does not really have a story. The "plot" is based on the idea of a seventh grade student named Lennie Miller who solves math problems for supernatural creatures that live in a mystical realm. These creatures are bad at math and need Lennie's help in solving a wide range of problems.

Unfortunately, the series comes across as a collection of math problems rather than a unified narrative. While the author absolutely gets the "Math" part right in this trilogy, the "Fiction" part is convoluted at best. Although I do not want to discourage people from reading these books, especially given their strong math content, in my view there are better books for young readers interested in math fiction.

More information about this work can be found at www.amazon.com.
(Note: This is just one work of mathematical fiction from the list. To see the entire list or to see more works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.)

Works Similar to Night of the Paranormal Patterns
According to my `secret formula', the following works of mathematical fiction are similar to this one:
  1. Night of the Eerie Equations by Robert Black
  2. Night of the Frightening Fractions by Robert Black
  3. Quaternia by Tom Petsinis
  4. Kayip Piramit - Sayilarin Izinde by Ahmet Baki Yerli
  5. Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbers by Pendred Noyce
  6. The Math Olympian by Richard Hoshino
  7. Prime Suspects: The Anatomy of Integers and Permutations by Andrew Granville / Jennifer Granville / Robert J. Lewis (Illustrator)
  8. Lost in the Math Museum by Colin Adams
  9. Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire
  10. Clara Thorn, The Witch That Was Found by Don Jones
Ratings for Night of the Paranormal Patterns:
RatingsHave you seen/read this work of mathematical fiction? Then click here to enter your own votes on its mathematical content and literary quality or send me comments to post on this Webpage.
Mathematical Content:
5/5 (1 votes)
.
Literary Quality:
2/5 (1 votes)
..

Categories:
GenreFantasy, Didactic, Young Adult,
MotifFemale Mathematicians,
TopicAlgebra/Arithmetic/Number Theory, Real Mathematics,
MediumNovels,

Home All New Browse Search About

Where are the new works of mathematical fiction?: As you can see from this chronological listing, this database includes many works of mathematical fiction for each year from 1990 to 2025. Strangely, only two are listed for 2026, so far. Either less mathematical fiction is being published than in previous years or I'm just having more trouble finding it. If you know of any works of fiction that should be added to this list, especially recently published ones, please let me know. (Keep in mind that I do not include self-published works or children's fiction that just covers elementary mathematical concepts.) Thanks!

(Maintained by Alex Kasman, College of Charleston)