Pie vs. Pi

Coming February 16, 2027. Pre-order today! Pie vs. Pi A Seriously Silly Smackdown By: Suzanne Slade / Illustrated by: Ellie O'Shea Pie and Pi face off in a laugh-out-loud STEM smackdown where dessert gets deliciously mathematical. Gather round for the big showdown! Who is the greatest of all time? The ambitious, delicious dessert Pie? Or the nonstop, compute-till-you-drop number Pi? When Pie and Pi go head-to-head, who will win? In this boisterous picture book, everyone's favorite dessert takes on everyone's favorite irrational number. Pie is delicious, versatile, and beloved around the world. Pi is constant and dependable, essential to engineering, architecture, and navigation. Written by a (hilarious) mechanical engineer, this book features laugh-out-loud cartoon illustrations, math formulas that use pi, and a recipe for baking mini pies. Perfect for Pi Day, Pie Day, or any day you need a seriously silly STEM smackdown! If you like this book, you’ll enjoy these: Eat Your Math Homework Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi Show and Tell! Great Graphs and Smart Charts [TABS] Look Inside Downloadables Download the Cover Author & Illustrator Suzanne Slade, author Suzanne Slade is a mechanical engineer who worked on Delta and Titan rockets for NASA. She has written more than 180 children's books, including Women on a Mission: The Remarkable Heroes Who Put Men on the Moon and Daring Dozen: The Twelve Who Walked on the Moon. Suzanne and her family split their time between Illinois and New Hampshire. Read more about Suzanne. Ellie O'Shea, illustrator Ellie O'Shea is the illustrator of many children’s books, including the Mina Mistry Investigates series and the Simple Technology series. When she’s not doodling, drinking coffee, or telling bad jokes, you can usually find her binge-watching cartoons or watching pug videos in Worcester, England. Read more about Ellie. Awards & Honors Coming soon! Editorial Reviews Kirkus Reviews, starred review Coming-of-age experiences through the eyes of two young women in Maine in 1954 and 2024. While thrifting in Portland with best friend Marty, dedicated 16-year-old upcycler Ella feels inexplicably drawn to a vintage apron with delicate embroidered flowers, especially when she feels something discreetly sewn into the hem. Seventy years earlier, on a small island an hour’s ferry ride from Portland, 18-year-old Dorothy wore the apron while keeping house for her dad and two younger brothers. It helped her feel closer to her mom, who had died four years earlier—it’s “a piece of her” that “was like a decoration for her dresses.” The apron and “Mad Girl’s Love Song,” a poem by Sylvia Plath, provide throughlines for the dual first-person narratives, as Ella struggles with self-harm and suicidal ideation, while Dorothy writes poetry and reads in stolen moments. Both young women evince creative talents that are thwarted by their circumstances: Ella’s feelings of worthlessness and concerns about Marty’s abusive home life, and Dorothy’s grind of daily chores and limited opportunities. Debut author Norton introduces a plethora of serious themes, including mental health struggles, physical abuse, drug and alcohol use, ineffective parenting, and bereavement, fragmenting readers’ attention and leaving some interesting characters feeling thinly developed. The text of the Plath poem referenced in the title and within the story doesn’t appear in the book. An epilogue resolves some story arcs and leaves others open-ended. Main characters present white. An imaginative concept that overreaches in execution. Details Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-62354-730-1 Ages: 5–9 Page count: 40 9 x 9 Publication date: February 16, 2027 [/TABS]