I love the way this graphic novel captures what it's like to have a learning disability! To my knowledge there aren't a ton of middle grade graphic novels out there that capture this so well. Verity "Very" is the class president but may have to step down due to failing math. But she's failing math because she has dyscalculia! I loved that this is a story of friendship and class gossip as much as it is about Very's math journey, so it will appeal to readers of Raina Telgemeier and Svetlana Chmakova.

Middle grade graphic novels have come so far. I love that so many authors are showing disabilities in their books and giving representation to real life situations. Very Bad at Math focuses on Very, a popular middle schooler who succeeds in everything she does, including being class president. She is well liked and moves through life with ease and contentment. The one dark cloud in Very's bright sky is math, she just can't seem to do it. No matter how much she studies and how hard she tries nothing seems to change, even remedial math classes aren't working. With her math grad threatening to end her term as class president Very starts to lash out at friends and finds herself drowning in what she perceives as failure. This story has so many messages - it brings awareness to a learning disability I had never heard of before, it shows the power of honesty in friendship, and it shows the pressure of trying to appear perfect to your peers. I really loved this book, it had a lot of heart.

I didn't see that Very has dyscalculia coming at all!

Larson's newest graphic novel does a fantastic job of exploring dyscalculia. I was worried with a title including "math" that it would be boring, but it's not at all. I hope it doesn't keep other readers away, especially those who are also bad at math-- and may have dyscalculia.

Very Bad at Math is a super cute graphic novel for the middle grade crowd about a young girl who excels at EVERYTHING, except for math. I loved the illustrations on this one, they were fun and fit the age group perfectly. I also liked that it brings attention to learning disorders and how much that can effect your school as you grow up. I think this handled a lot of topics really well including public image, bullying, and more. It was also just super fun! I would definitely recommend it for middle grade graphic novel readers!

Thanks to NetGalley, Hope Larson, and HarperCollins for the chance to read and review. My opinions are my own!

Fast & enjoyable middle grade graphic novel about Verity Nelson-student body president who's great at everything-everything except math and if she doesn't get her grades up soon she'll have to drop out of student body altogether. Her Principal sends her to remedial math classes but when you're great at everything the last thing you want is for anyone else to find out you need extra help & your perfect reputation to take a hit.

This book had lots to recommend it-a likeable main character in Verity & a very relatable problem-being bad at math while not having any problems with any other subjects in school. When it turns out Verity has a learning disability connected with her problems in math called dyscalculia (a learning disability that causes her to mix up numbers) her math tutor explains to her parents & makes sure she gets extra help.


There are lots of moments of vulnerability throughout this book which hit home--saying sorry, asking for help, admitting to having messed things up. Even when these moments happened after they should have-the fact they were discussed & talked about was important to show that if we want to make things right we can try even after the fact when we make mistakes.
I would recommend this book to a middle school kid.

Thanks to netgalley & Harper Alley for the advance copy.

This was a great middle grade graphic novel about Verity Nelson who is student body president, debate club whiz and first chair orchestra so she is should be good at everything right and she is except Math. Verity is failing math and if she doesn’t get her grade up she is going to be forced to resign as student body president so she hides what she is doing and just keeps adding more to her plate without delegating it since she is afraid that it will prove she doesn’t deserve her position and her VP who is her friend Bree will take it from her. When she makes a mistake transposing numbers while ordering shirts for a school trip fundraiser that was part of her campaign promise she resigns but that mistake helps her tutor figure out that she has dyscalculia which makes her mix up her numbers and now with the diagnosis she can pass math. This was a really great fast read and I really enjoyed the message of you don’t have to perfect at everything and that it's ok to ask for help and the illustrations were very good as well.

Thanks to Harper Alley and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun graphic novel that will be a great read for kids. The story was so fun and engaging.

We all want to hide our imperfections behind the facade of our roaring milestones but we don't know when the going gets tough, how to get going? Well, this book is answer to that and so much more. It's about hardwork (more like smart work), friendship, and reorienting yourself. It handles difficult topic in subtle, comical way. It keeps you hooked till you hit the last page and leaves you with an impressionable feeling of rupture. Must read for everyone.

"Very Bad at Math" is a middle grade graphic novel about Verity, nicknamed "Very," an eigth grader who is elected class president in a landslide for the third time in a row. Very is great at most of her schoolwork, politics, sports, and pretty much everything, but this year she's failing math. Something just isn't clicking. Very needs to bring up her grade or she will have to stop being class president. When she is assigned an extra math class with only one other student, she doesn't want to let anyone know about her failure. The illustrations are fun and bright and the author handles the difficult subjects well. A mostly realistic story about friendship, middle school, learning differences, this is a must-buy for all middle grade graphic novel collections.

Verity is good at everything. She excels in all her classes. She has been class president every year she has been in middle school. She is super popular, and everyone loves when she knows who they are. She wants to be in politics when she grows up.


And then, she finds she is failing math. She is sent to take tutoring classes, and tries to hide that from everyone, because she can’t stand the fact that she could be failing at anything.


I thought I wasn’t going to like this. I thought that reading a story about a girl who was all that was going to be boring, but she was actually just charismatic, not mean, although she sometimes was thoughtless, not realizing that something she thought was funny, wasn’t.


This is a great book for those out there that have math anxiety, or something even more befuddling. Every step in this story things are explained, and we get a good look at how not learning math can mess you up. And having Dyscalculia, which is like dyslexia for numbers, can make it so you can never get the problems right.


Highly recommended. This was never preachy. And the funny bits were funny. And the bullying was quite understandable and dealt with.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 22nth of January 2025.