  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 02/01/2014 Instead of baseball cards or action figures, George collects fractions (illustrated as thick round discs mounted, trophy-like, on pedestals). At an auction, the tuxedo-clad boy competes against three rivals, including the nefarious Dr. Brok. The bidding for a coveted 5/9 approaches one million dollars when the lights go out and the fraction disappears. So does Dr. Brok. Armed with a homemade gizmo for reducing fractions, George follows the scoundrel to his mansion, where the boy must find the treasured 5/9, cleverly hidden in plain sight. A playwright, Einhorn manages to keep up the dramatic tension between the intrepid hero and the sneering villain while slipping in bits of fraction-wrangling information along the way. Using a restrained palette, cartoonist Clark boosts the story’s comedy and its drama with his exaggerated portrayals of the characters and their actions. An appended page tells and shows how to reduce a fraction, an idea that even noncollectors may find useful. This amusing book could help lessen the all-too-common fear of fractions. - Copyright 2014 Booklist. School Library Journal - 03/01/2014 Gr 2–5—When the coveted 5/9 fraction is stolen from auction by the mysterious Dr. Brok, it is up to George Cornelius Factor to find the missing fraction and return it to its proper place. Knowing that Dr. Brok is notorious for disguising fractions (such as by turning 1/2 into 2/4 or 3/6), George invents the Reducer, a ray gun combined with a calculator, paper clips, whisk, and computer parts that reduces fractions to their lowest terms. Only after finding a missing sliver of Dr. Brok's 34/63 fraction (thus becoming 35/63) and turning on the Reducer does George-voila!-find the 5/9 fraction. Although the mathematical procedure for simplifying fractions is provided in the illustrations, younger readers may need the assistance of an adult to fully grasp the concept. A closing "Reducing Fractions" page includes step-by-step instructions for finding both the greatest and lowest common denominators to properly reduce fractions. A fun mathematical addition to library collections.—Meaghan Darling, Plainsboro Public Library, NJ - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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