Fashion Figures: How Missy the Mathlete Made the Cut

Missy Maker is a middle school girl who loves math and fashion. She sees math in everything she does. She tries to hide this from her friends, because she thinks it’s too geeky. Missy hears that the school math club needs more members, but she’s worried about what her friends will think if she joins, and she’s already committed to joining the fashion club.

After an epic internal struggle and with the support of her peers and her quirky, loving family, Missy finds that she can be both a Mathlete and a Fashionista. Missy figures out how to bring the two clubs together to help both groups win. In the process, she discovers that she can openly excel in math and science and still be popular with her peers. She also learns how her math and science skills can help her artistic endeavors.
Gain an inside perspective on what it’s like when you love math and science and happen to be a girl. Fashion Figures highlights the societal and internal pressures preteen and early-teen girls often face when they excel in these subjects, and it shows strategies for overcoming barriers to being themselves and doing what they love while still fitting in socially.

What You’ll Learn

• Girls can have a passion for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects and still be cool
  
• Girls can be great at math
  
• Math skills are important in non-STEM centered subject areas like fashion and art
  
• Math can be fun
  

Who This Book Is For

Melissa A. Borza is Vice President Strategy and Marketing at Netformx. Before joining Netformx, she worked as a product leader at CA Technologies. Prior to that she worked as a journalist and technical writer. Ms. Borza has taught technical writing, public speaking, and product management classes and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She presents regularly at conferences around the world, such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, and she contributes frequent articles and blogs on change management, team transformations, product management, and increasing the representation of women in IT and other STEM careers. Ms. Borza holds a patent in an integrated impact analysis system. She took her MA in Communications from Syracuse University and her BA in English and Psychology from Cornell University.