Contemporary technical mathematics Book

When I was in middle school, I went on vacation with a friend's family. She was an only child and soon decided she did not like sharing attention with another kid. It was a long week with a lot of time spent in a car. The only thing that saved me was "For Kicks", which I found shoved under the front seat of the family car. I read through arguments about dinner, car sickness, and sleeping in the same room as a sick cat for two nights. After I returned home (finally!) I conveniently forgot to return the book. I haunted the local library for more Dick Francis books and even worked up the nerve to get permission to browse the adult stacks (tiny local library with specific ideas about what children should and should not read). After high school I traveled to England partially because of Francis' books. To this day "For Kicks" remains one of my favorite books.