How did you strike a balance that felt right for the character and the story you wanted to tell? She faces her struggles with math while navigating the variety of challenges that come with growing up.

While Henri’s learning disability makes math challenging, she is never reduced in the book to her dyscalculia. “Figuring out” what else you are other than “not good at math” becomes supremely important. I wanted to dig into what it feels like when the world of numbers seems utterly closed to you – and yet, you’re still required to take those classes and pass them to succeed. I hadn’t found much representation on dyscalculia in children’s fiction, and definitely not as much writing on girls with learning disabilities, even though it’s been normalized nowadays that everybody struggles with something sometimes.

I ran across David Howard’s piece on dyscalculia and ADHD, and reflected on where his experiences and mine intersected. Where did the inspiration for this story come from?īack in the day, I followed a blog (which is sadly on indefinite hiatus) called Disability in Kidlit, which highlighted and discussed, from a disabled perspective, the portrayal of disability in middle grade and young adult literature. Figure It Out, Henri Weldon follows Henrietta Weldon, a seventh grader with dyscalculia, as she begins “mainstreaming” into public school-taking new classes, making new friends, joining the soccer team, and more.

Peas and carrots by tanita s davis