• Junior Library Guild Selection
A brilliant unfolding and pacing of the narrative bring order to the near-misses and chaos of zero’s origins, shored up by the various obstacles readers can discover in the time line. Hsu’s global scenes are cheerful and accessible, with pages that show people counting, adding, sorting, much as children do. It all adds up to an epic story of the little nothing that could, and did, launch or change engineering, modern physics, computing, and electronics forever. VERDICT Educators can build an entire lesson around zero, especially given the thoughtful resources and chatty time line provided in the back matter —School Library Journal, starred review
The art alone will grab many readers, who will readily stay to be enthralled by the numbers.
An excellent historical and mathematical introduction to a key concept. - Kirkus Reviews, starred review
A brilliant unfolding and pacing of the narrative bring order to the near-misses and chaos of zero’s origins, shored up by the various obstacles readers can discover in the time line. Hsu’s global scenes are cheerful and accessible, with pages that show people counting, adding, sorting, much as children do. It all adds up to an epic story of the little nothing that could, and did, launch or change engineering, modern physics, computing, and electronics forever. VERDICT Educators can build an entire lesson around zero, especially given the thoughtful resources and chatty time line provided in the back matter —School Library Journal, starred review
The art alone will grab many readers, who will readily stay to be enthralled by the numbers.
An excellent historical and mathematical introduction to a key concept. - Kirkus Reviews, starred review