Reviewed by: Ask Albert Einstein Elizabeth Bush Barasch, Lynne Ask Albert Einstein; written and illus. by Lynne Barasch. Foster/Farrar, 200540p ISBN 0-374-30435-1$16.00 Ad Gr. 2-4 Narrator April recalls a family episode from 1952, when her fifteen-year-old sister Annabel was seriously in danger of failing math. April was so distressed by her beloved sister's gloom that she mailed Annabel's homework puzzler off to the one man in the country she was convinced could help—Albert Einstein. The renowned genius found time in his semiretirement to reply with a sketch and a broad hint to the solution, and after considerable effort, Annabel made the grade. A closing note explains that the story is based on a letter sent by a real fifteen-year-old girl, to whom Einstein did indeed reply with a pointer to her problem's solution. A reproduction of his sketch and the steps by which "Annabel worked out the problem, following Einstein's diagram" are included. It's interesting to get a new view of such a revered figure, but by transforming the story's protagonist from a high-schooler to her fictional seven-year-old sister, the target age of this book's audience plummets to a point where children cannot be expected to understand the math. On the other hand, upper graders who might reasonably be interested in trying the geometry problem for themselves will steer clear of the pale, cartoony watercolor artwork and the fictionalized picture-book plot. Here is an engaging tidbit of mathematical [End Page 70] history in search of an audience, but it will take an exceptionally creative librarian or math teacher to play matchmaker for this awkward presentation. Copyright © 2005 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois