14-year old Mike, who is afflicted with dyscalculia, (a math disability) is being raised by a brilliant father who continually tries to cultivate Mike’s love for math and engineering.  While he goes off Romania for work, Mike’s father sends him off to rural Pennsylvania to live with distant relatives Moo and Poppy.  This small town, of quirky characters, (a great-uncle who never talks, a near-blind great aunt, a punk rocker, a homeless dude, and the “three stooges”) happens to need someone to “engineer” the project of raising $40,000 in three weeks.  Mike rises to the occasion, giving you the happily-ever-after story you seek.

The stick-figure book cover will draw the attention of your Wimpy Kid audience.  The humor and eccentric characters will appeal to those middle schoolers still reading elementary-level books.  Weaknesses of the book include the overwhelming number of characters who happen to be grieving the loss of a loved one and moodiness of the main character.  Plusses include the title (brilliant!) and the clever introduction of math terms at the beginning of each chapter.