Algebra Unplugged
Algebra Unplugged is unlike any other mathematics text about  algebra. Through the use of creative analogies, the authors explain the  areas that are often stumbling blocks for students.  --Mathematics Teaching  in the Middle SchoolAn excellent and enjoyable book. Worth having several copies  around to loan to students.  --The American Mathematical MonthlyIt's a remarkable little book by Kenn Amdahl, a poet and former  math-phobe and Jim Loats, a math professor. Be advised that Algebra  Unplugged does not take the approach that your high school math teacher  and textbook took. It certainly answers some basic questions differently.  Amdahl and Loats cover pretty much all the topics of first-year algebra  and a great deal of earlier math that many kids don't really have a grip  on. And they do it all in just 258 pages of remarkably readable and often  hilarious text.Both of my daughters read the book. One, a true math-phobe probably  managed to pass algebra in ninth grade as much because of this little  book as because of her teacher. My other daughter profited as well,  though she's a math lover. Bruce M. Smith, managing editor. --The Phi  Delta Kappan, Feb 1998Sometimes, despite endless explanations by teachers and dozens of  homework assignments, students don't always grasp algebra. Some ask for  help, others turn to books, hoping that one will explain things in  language they can understand. This may be the book they are looking for.  Explanations are short, humorous, and non technical. The authors  convinced this reviewer that there is value in sneaking up on a  potentially intimidating subject in this way, although I was not so sure  at the beginning.  --Appraisal-Science Books for Young AdultsThe book contains no exercises. Instead, it simply explains the  concepts, vocabulary and strategies of algebra in understandable terms.  --Zentralblatt fuer Didaktic der MathematikThe innovative author of There Are No Electrons asked math  professor Jim Loats to teach him algebra. The result is this wonderful  book which explains the basic concepts, vocabulary and strategies of  algebra. No exercises, just clear writing, humor and information.  --The  Genius TribeThe volume's easy pace and the use of a game as a metaphor  probably will appeal to the casual learner. The book's gentle,  conversational, gamelike approach may be sufficient to reach the  'unreachable.'  --Science Books and Films