What is Grammar Nation?

Grammar Nation is a company that is changing the way educational materials are created for today's students. We provide essential core curriculum in a way that is highly entertaining, yet educational. We hope to prove that teenagers can invest the same level of interest in educational materials as they do in video games and DVDs.

What is The Adventures of Genius Boy and Grammar Girl?
It is Grammar Nation's first creation, a textbook with a new approach to teaching grammar and punctuation to middle school and high school students. Our goal is to take dry and often intimidating subject matter, grammar and punctuation, and make it clear and engaging. While using this book, even the most resistant Anti-Grammarians find motivation to study, and as a result, their test scores significantly increase. Part of this book's appeal can be attributed to the wonderful artwork, the humorous story, and the zany, colorful layout. In our workshops at Currey Ingram Academy (Brentwood,TN), students flock to class with comments such as "is today grammar day?" and "please say we're doing grammar!" They beg their teachers to make this their one and only grammar book. The textbook provides the standard core curriculum for most middle school and high school levels (a diagnostic pretest before chapter one previews the material). The book contains 218 pages, divided into thirty chapters.

The Creation of This Book:

Tim Mathews conceived The Adventures of Genius Boy and Grammar Girl in 2005 while working as an English teacher for special-needs high school students at Currey Ingram Academy. These students, who were dealing with ADD, dyslexia, and similar challenges, would collectively groan whenever Tim reached for grammar textbooks. Hoping to meet the students halfway, Tim scoured the online bookstores for alternatives, but every textbook seemed conventional and uninspiring. These students were bright. They were certainly capable of learning this curriculum. If only there were a book that could inspire them . . .

One of Tim's students stood apart from the rest. Her name was Deena Roth, and she was a natural linguist. Because Deena always requested grammar lessons, Tim had nicknamed her "Grammar Girl." "Grammar Girl" brought to mind a superhero who, supplied with a magic red pen, would save the world from bad grammar. Tim conceived a story in which Grammar Girl would be the heroine. She would face evil "Anti-Grammarians," based on real-life classmates who wished to ignore the rules and speak and write any way they pleased. A grammar war would ensue. Hmmm . . . Grammar Girl would need a sidekick. Deena's classmate, Stuart, had a habit of stringing long, fabricated words together, thus creating a "smarter" version of himself that he somehow thought would help him succeed on testing days. Tim had been calling Stuart's alter-ego "Genius Boy." Yes . . . The Adventures of Genius Boy and Grammar Girl. Tim worked out a first draft storyline that contained grammar lessons seasoned with comedy and drama. After months of progress, the book was getting there, but it still needed work. Tim enlisted Deena Roth and another bright student, Jenna Newman, to add touches of humor that would resonate with their peers. Next, he enlisted a successful animator and illustrator, Yvette Kaplan, to come up with concepts for the characters, and the book was born.

Student endorsements:

I never thought I would enjoy a grammar lesson. I'm extremely dyslexic and have ADD, so paying attention has always been difficult. When Mr. Mathews introduced the book, I was a bit reluctant. Then I saw how much fun it could be—different students reading the parts of the characters, the colors and the art. Not only did it hold my attention, but I was actually learning. I'm not sure I would have learned all I did with out its help.
-Cassity

Learning grammar was much easier for me when there was a story to follow. The characters are creative and make the lessons fun. Before, I would want to run screaming into the night at the mention of anything relating to grammar. Genius Boy and Grammar Girl helped me to understand grammar in a way that other books had failed. The simple formula was to make it fun and interesting.
-Taylor

In middle school, grammar was always a weak point of mine academically. Then in my sophomore year of high school while in my British literature class, Mr. Mathews introduced his new grammar book. The book made all the grammar rules come to life for me while creating a fun character to follow on adventures of teaching grammar. As silly as I felt in high school reading a comic-book-style grammar textbook, I learned and had more fun than I would have from a standard book. Then when I was a freshman at Maryville College, I wrote an email to Tim Mathews. I thanked him for the knowledge of grammar he gave me. In my English composition class, I felt as if I knew so much more than my peers. I was the one answering questions in class. Now I love reading students' papers and giving advice. And it's all due to the grammar book.
-Marcelle

Being part of the original class that the characters are based on is an honor, more so since I was a part of the creative process in writing the book. Until high school, I had only had grammar taught to me in the first and second grade. Basically, all I knew was what a noun and a verb was, the rest I just had to guess my way through or rely on spell-check. So when I was suddenly confronted with (at the time) the daunting idea of having to learn grammar, I was less than thrilled. But our class, if I may brag, was special in that we wanted grammar to be more than just something to drudge through. Grammar should be interesting and funny. So we based the characters on ourselves. And though in the book we are just characters, there is a tiny bit of truth. My class of 2006 is alive and kicking in the book, and I'll always treasure that class.
-Jenna

Our team:

Writer:
Tim Mathews holds an MA in English from California State University, Northridge. He has taught English and/or ESL at Vanderbilt University, UCLA Extension, Nashville State Community College and Currey Ingram Academy, where he currently teaches. Tim has won songwriting awards and has had his songs recorded on major record labels.

Illustrator:
Yvette Kaplan is a well-known animation director, character designer, writer, and artist. Among her many credits, she directed Arthur's Missing Pal Doug, co-directed Beavis and Butthead Do America (with Mike Judge), and was the head of story on Ice Age. You can enjoy her reel and visit her website at YvetteKaplan.net.

Editor:
Dan Marcus has edited books across a broad range of genres, including fantasy, crime fiction, children's literature, science, and philosophy. He also writes marketing materials and consults on scripts for film and theater. Dan has written the music and lyrics for five stage musicals produced in the Philippines.

Designer:
Rachel Heussenstamm, an art director and graphic designer, has a spectrum of work that ranges from album cover design for cutting-edge indie rock bands to art direction for innovative educational websites. Her current projects can be viewed at littleorangefish.com.

Contributing Writers:

Jenna Newman is currently attending the University of Denver where she is an Asian Studies major and English minor. She hopes one day to teach English in Japan.

Deena Roth is in culinary school. In her spare time she likes to make weird ice cream (avocado, garlic, corn, and mascarpone to name a few), and travel regionally to promote GMX, Nashville's multi-genre sci-fi convention.

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