I dedicate this book to my friend Kris Platt and the two teachers that helped me, Mrs. Trow and Mrs. Smith. Also, Maggie H. and Lexi Y. gave me a good laugh while I was writing. Finally, I would like to give my sister a shout out of thanks for being the coolest sister ever. So, thank you to everyone that has helped me make this book.

  This was Nim’s home. She lived on a platform called Zero. Her mother was always telling Nim not to go too close to the edge. But, one day she did!

  She didn’t realize where she was, but soon found out as she plummeted to the negatives.

  Thump! After hours of falling, she finally landed on platform…? She had no idea what platform she was on.

  “What am I to do? Maybe I could count all the way up to zero from here! One, two, three, four, five, six. I can’t see anymore, so I must be on platform -6!”

   The numbers below zero are called the negatives. They were full of horrible beasts and creatures.

  “Grrrr!” said the Diddlywonk. “What is a little girl doing down here?” As the Diddlywonk went to investigate, Nim was fast asleep. 

  “Hey, you girl! Wake up, and go home.” said the Diddlywonk. 

  “Well, sorry Mister, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to.” replied Nim sadly. 

 “Do you need help getting out of here then?” the Diddlywonk shot back.

  “Well, yes I do.” said Nim politely. “What do you add to -6 to get 0?”

  “Umm. I don’t know.” replied the Diddlywonk.

  “Maybe it is easier than we think.” said Nim.”Maybe we should just count up to zero from here.”

  “That might work!” said the Diddlywonk.

  “One, two, three, four, five, six.” counted Nim. “So, if we add 6 and -6 we’ll get zero! That means I can come down and visit you whenever I need some help  Diddlywonk. I just count to six.”

  “I’m very glad you’ll be back to visit me.” said the Diddlywonk. 

   That night as Nim lay in her bed, she wondered what she would do the next day. Maybe, just maybe, she would go visit her friend on platform -6

Glossary

– : A sign meaning negative

Negative numbers: Negative numbers are the numbers before zero

Math Standard

7.NS.1: 1.2 Adding integers with different signs

Works Cited

Ourboox. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Pixabay. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.