The Manga Guide to Statistics »

An athlete who participated in track and field from junior high to college, participating as an anchor in the Hakone Station relay (1500 meters/3.53), Shin Takahashi also enjoyed reading manga and made his industry debut with KOOCHI NO UMATEKI SHIDOU GAKU in the winter publication of

The Manga Guide to Statistics capitalizes on the international manga phenomenon. This first in a series of EduManga titles from No Starch Press (co-published with Ohmsha, Ltd. of Japan), The Manga Guide to Statistics uses manga to introduce the reader to the world of statistics. Rather than learning from a dry textbook, readers follow the animated adventures of Rui and her teacher, Mamoru Yamamoto, as Rui interacts with a colorful cast of characters. The book consists of seven chapters, each containing a cartoon, text to supplement the cartoon, an exercise and answer section, and a summary. Readers learn about working with numerical and categorical data; probability; relationships between two variables; tests of independence; even how to perform calculations in Microsoft Excel. Other titles in the series will cover topics like databases, electricity, and physics.

School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up

Rui is introduced to "statistics with heart-pounding excitement" when she develops a crush on Igarashi, her father's market-research business associate. In an attempt to impress him, the teen asks her father for a personal tutor and is devastated when he enlists Yamamoto, a bespectacled geek, as her instructor. As Rui gamely struggles through some basic lessons, readers learn about distribution tables and deviation scores. Naturally, love finally blossoms. In a moment of frustration, Rui knocks off Yamamoto's glasses and sees his eyes for the first time, and hers fill with hearts. This manga textbook is written for those interested in understanding principles of statistics. Each of the seven chapters is organized into four sections: a cartoon, a text explanation to supplement the cartoon, an exercise that includes the answer, and a summary. Readers can learn much about the subject by just reading the cartoon, but they will gain a more thorough understanding by working through the other three sections in each chapter. Yamamoto provides Rui with easy-to-understand examples and graphic illustrations, making the subject less intimidating. The book progresses in difficulty, beginning with data types and advancing to "tests of independence." Clearly, readers need a solid understanding of mathematics to grasp these concepts. The art is charming and the humor engaging. Readers will enjoy following Rui as she struggles with math concepts while showing off her new school uniform and realizing her romantic feelings for her tutor. A fun and fairly painless lesson on what many consider to be a less-than-thrilling subject.-Barbara M. Moon, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport,NY