The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class: Synclaire Fields Knows the Score

Illustrated by Kat Fajardo

Introduction by Kate Messner

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Meet the kids in Mrs. Z’s wacky and wonderful third-grade class! Synclaire Fields is proud to be the best in the class at math—until one mistake in a high-stakes situation means she’s NOT the best after all. So who is she instead?

Synclaire Fields is the Math Kid in Mrs. Z’s class, getting perfect marks on every quiz and helping her classmates master tricky concepts. She especially loves demonstrating her skills at her parents’ store after school. Then she gets TWO ANSWERS WRONG on a math test, and … How can she be the Math Kid if she isn’t good at math anymore?

So Synclaire embarks on a quest to figure out what’s next. Maybe she’ll be a piano prodigy? A board-games whiz? A skating star? She likes some of these hobbies, but there’s one constant with every role: She seems to come back to math. Maybe, with the help of her friends in Mrs. Z’s class, she can still be the Math Kid after all?

Both sweetly poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, with black-and-white illustrations by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Synclaire’s story invites readers into Mrs. Z’s class where friendship and fun rule the school, from NAACP Image Award finalist Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich.

Perfect for!
★ My Weirdtastic School fans
★ Reluctant readers
★ Classroom read-alouds
★ Andrew Clements fans
★ Math whiz kids
★ Math haters
★ Kids who haven’t found their hobby yet!

Read them all! The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class have plenty of stories to share!
Emma McKenna, Full out (#1)
Rohan Murthy Has a Plan (#2)
Poppy Song Bakes a Way (#3)
The Legend of Memo Castillo (#4)
Wyatt Hill Brings a Lizard to School (#5) — available for preorder now!
Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage (#6) — available for preorder now!
Olive Little Gets Crafty (#7) —available for preorder
Synclaire Fields Knows the Score (#8) — available for preorder!
Theo Chang is Not a Cat (#9) — coming soon!
Thunder Nelson Rescues a Possum (#10) — coming soon!

*The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class is an innovative series where every book is written by a different all-star author and features a different kid in the same third-grade class. They can be read in any order!

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The Kids in Mrs. Z's Class

On Sale: Jul 8, 2025
Page Count: 128 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9781523530328

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Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

About the Author

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich is the author of many novels for young readers, including Operation Sisterhood; It Doesn't Take A Genius; 8th Grade Superzero; Two Naomis, co-authored with Audrey Vernick, which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award; Saving Earth: Climate Change and the Fight for Our Future; Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey to Tomorrow; and the picture books Someday Is Now and Mae Makes A Way. She is a member of the Brown Bookshelf, and editor of the We Need Diverse Books anthology The Hero Next Door. Olugbemisola lives with her family in New York City where she writes, makes things, and needs to get more sleep. She invites you to visit her on Instagram @olugbemisolarhudayperkovich and at her website olugbemisolabooks.com.

Kat Fajardo (they/she) received a Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration for their first graphic novel, Miss Quinces (published in Spanish as Srta. Quinces). Born and raised in New York City, Kat now lives in Austin, Texas, with their pubs, Mac and Roni. They invite you to visit them at katfajardo.com.

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Kat Fajardo

About the Illustrator

Kat Fajardo is an award-winning comic artist and illustrator based in NYC. A graduate of The School of Visual Arts, she’s editor of La Raza Anthology and creator of Bandida Comics series. She’s made work for Penguin Random House on The First Rule of Punk (written by Celia C. Pérez), CollegeHumor, and several anthologies. You can find her working at her Brooklyn studio creating playful and colorful work about self-acceptance and Latinx culture. Or drooling over puppies at a cafe.

Learn more about this illustrator