AL, Logical
AL, Logical is a young adult graphic novel that’s like a math circle, but in a haunted multidimensional mansion where a brave artist finds the restless ghost of a mathematician.
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115+ backers crowdfunded AL, Logical in the spring of 2025 to bring it to life. Thank you! Check out this book trailer to meet the authors.
Grab a sample chapter with math notes
Check out the start of the book, a beautiful chapter from the middle, and the math notes that go with that chapter. The notes talk about artistic and mathematical inspirations and offer interactive activities. DOWNLOAD
The authors introduce the book
Wouldn’t it be great if there were more stories about learners discovering what doing mathematics is really like, that they enjoy doing it, and that they are good at it?
AL, Logical is the story of a brave young person in extraordinary circumstances. She finds a house that is not always there. Once inside, there are many challenges, problems from many different areas and levels of math, which she faces with perseverance and curiosity. Outside the house, she starts to bring her problem solving to school, where her teacher is also starting to rethink math class.
AL is ready for anything.
We read a LOT of comics in this family. And the artist here has been drawing comics literally since he picked up a pencil. There has been a great expansion in picture books about doing math and mathematicians, but what is out there for secondary readers? This book is one that learners who might never pick up a ‘book book’ can read and enter into the story. You can read through for the story and solve the puzzles for mastery later. The math notes included at the end of the book provide great support for learners, mentors, or teachers who want to know more.
One of the first thumbnails Xavier drew for AL, Logical; how that scene looks now.
Both art and math are mostly about problem solving; that is the primary reason why this book exists. We’ve talked about this for a while; the similarities between art and math classrooms and the way artists and mathematicians think. It was always a goal of ours to collaborate on something that combined math and art.
After much family brainstorming, we produced a chapter for an honors project when Xavier was in college, and then, in 2022, we received a grant that would cover printing costs, and we started work on the first full version of the book. Inspired by books like Edwin Abbott’s Flatland, Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, and Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz’s Big Numbers, we started writing our story. AL, Logical is about a student—Alice, or ‘AL’—who doesn’t think she’s a ‘math person’, learning that her curiosity and creativity are great qualities for a mathematician. She learns this by exploring a haunted house, where all of the supernatural phenomena are rooted in math and logic. By August of 2022 we’d printed six copies and that was it.
The first cover for AL, Logical. 2022
Or that was it for a while, because then, in 2023, we started talking with Maria Droujkova at Natural Math, and in 2024 we started working to get the book actually published. Most of the artwork was redone (reinked and recolored) and we gathered feedback from math teachers, learners, and mathematicians.
One of the most exciting and frequent pieces of feedback that we heard from readers was that the book was fun to read. That was the primary reason we wanted to make a comic book in the first place! Comics are inherently engaging; readers hear the voices of the characters in their heads; and they fill in what happens between the panels and between pages. The idea of a comic about math isn’t necessarily new. But a comic about doing math, which is also fun and engaging for the reader, is something we wanted to see more of in the world.
The authors are both teachers, and the three main characters, AL, the mathematician, and the teacher all draw on our experiences in the classroom. Everyone is changing and growing and learning. The math and pedagogy in the book are the real thing! Several readers have connected to the classroom scenes, as more students than AL find out that math can be engaging and that they can do it. The mysterious mathematician in the house also has some things to learn, despite a lifetime’s experience with math and teaching.
Stories give us hope. We want this story to be warm and real, about important ideas, while also being a romp in a haunted house where things are very different from the outside world. We would love to see this on classroom shelves, read in math circles, and used for inspiration and support.
AL and the mathematician solving their monster problem
If you also would like to see more fun, engaging math comics in the world; or if you enjoy adventure stories about ghosts and alternate dimensions; or if you want something that might help your learners see themselves as mathematicians—then this book is for you! This edition of AL, Logical includes our math notes with information about the problems in the book, connections to more math, and support for teachers doing activities with learners.
About the authors
Xavier Golden is John Golden’s son. He is a certified art teacher and an uncertified cartoonist. After co-writing AL, Logical with John in 2022, he drew the first nine pages as part of his senior project at GVSU. That summer, he finished the book, and two summers later, he finished the book again. In his free time, Xavier takes long walks on the beach and draws comics about superheroes.
John Golden is Xavier Golden’s dad. He is a PhD mathematician who has been a math teacher educator for a very long time. He found, researched, and adapted all the puzzles that appear in Al, Logical and co-wrote the story with Xavier. John enjoys drawing, hiking, and playing and making math games and art. John posts math on his blog, Tumblr, and BlueSky.
What readers are saying
“It had a lot of different monsters and fantastical bits that made the book feel like a bit of a maze … like I was able to feel the confusion that she was feeling.”
Student reader
“One really good thing about this book is the deep math thinking and process Al faces … it gives perspective to the thought process through math.”
High school reader
“I really enjoyed stopping to try and solve the puzzles alongside Al.”
High school reader
“I thought that art worked very well overall. In particular, both the actions and the emotions of each scene were clear from the art, and the progression from panel to panel had a very nice pacing to it. I liked how the quieter panels such as AL doodling give me space to think and relax. That is both a math value (I instruct students to take quiet thinking pauses all the time) and an artistic value (pleasantly reminiscent of Myazaki’s work, like Spirited Away). AL’s doodles and reflections are excellent for storytelling in so many ways!”
Mathematician
“They both also devoured the novel in one sitting, and as I watch them every now and then, they were very much intently reading, and I could hear one of them say things like “woah” every now and then. I even had something else going on at the TV in the same room, and neither one even glanced up once.”
Mathematician about their teenagers reading
“I loved the creativity and math-based logic puzzles throughout this comic. It was a super enjoyable read, and I think this could be something truly amazing.”
Math teacher
“We really enjoyed the illustrations. The style really fits the overall theme and story and is well done. The pace of the story is excellent. We also really liked the general idea of an interdimensional house traveling. … Finally, I like the small Easter eggs you hid.”
Mathematician and two teen children
“You want to reread it to understand more. That’s a sign of a good book.”
Middle school student
Meet the publisher
At the Natural Math Alliance, we believe that a good world is possible with better mathematics. Together with children, parents, teachers, and organizers, we help everyone grow a happy familiarity with all sixty-plus mathematics subjects as math makers. To match these goals, we developed a unique publishing process, giving authors, artists, and even readers a lot of creative control.
A book starts with amazing authors who deeply care about mathematics and learning. Each author spends many hours improving every aspect of the manuscript by testing the book with children, families, and classes.
Next comes our Future Book Club: the brave volunteers who field-test the draft in their own families, classes, math circles, book clubs, museum groups, and other programs. They come from all learning backgrounds and all continents (except Antarctica, so far), making Natural Math books more community-responsive and real.
Crowdfunding comes next. Thank you!
Our crew of professional editors, proofreaders, and designers are paid with the crowdfunding money. They make the book a joy to hold, each page or eBook screen a smooth reading experience. Natural Math books have been featured by The Atlantic, The NY Times, and many lovely sites dedicated to learning, parenting, and mathematics.
As with all our previous books, AL, Logical is published under a Creative Commons license. That means that people all over the world will be able to access its content, translate it into different languages—and share their ideas based on the book. The Creative Commons site features an interview with the Natural Math founder in its celebration of innovative projects in education.
If you are a part of the Natural Math community, thank you for your continuing support. If you are new to Natural Math, welcome to the adventure!
AL, Logical extra materials
Coming soon.
