The trap and the mathematical solution

Silvia loves boarding school life, the perfect way to assuage her nightmares and memories of the bombings. But her tranquility ends when Andrea, a boy at the family castle, reveals that her father, Duke Duino, has mysteriously disappeared. To prevent the castle from being sold, the two children, through intrigue and mistaken identities, pretend by day that the duke is still there; by night they investigate what might have really happened to him. To find her father, Silvia must learn to see what is seemingly invisible. In a whirlwind of twists and turns, animated statues, talking dragons, and great figures from the past, she will embark on an extraordinary journey into the Magical Dimension of Mathematics and perhaps understand that it is pointless to erase the past without first trying to understand it. Recommended reading age: 10 years and up.

Barbara Cerquetti lives and works in Civitanova Marche, where she has been running a bookstore for several years, focusing on children's books. She has also been involved in reading aloud for children and adults, and promotes initiatives such as animated fairy tales, meetings with schools, and literary afternoons. She has already published "The Firefly Forest. A Story of Friendship in the Sibillini Mountains," "The Lost Island. A Journey through the Memories of Conero," "I Ricordnati," "The Trap and the Mathematical Solution," and "The Butterfly Garden and Other Butterfly Stories" for Giaconi Editore.

Andrea Capozucca is a mathematics and physics teacher at the high school in Recanati.
Currently working at the University of Urbino on a research project in complexity science, he has been working for over ten years in the fields of dissemination, public engagement, and science outreach. He is also a singer and songwriter.