A Striking New Read
This week I will be reviewing the novel, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl! I did not realize it until the beginning, but this novel was actually very educational. The whole theme of the book is based on a girl who is a savant. If you are unsure what a savant is, it is a rare syndrome where a person is born with special gifts, or to make it more exciting, “powers”. For example, there is a savant called Daniel Tammet who can recite the the mathematical number Pi to the 22,413 decimal place, all from memory! And he can figure out any mathematical equation in his head! However, the character in this novel is an acquired savant, which means something happened to make them have these amazing powers. For example, a baseball to the head or even a strike of lightning! The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl was a very interesting book that grabbed my attention right off the bat. The beginning did seem a little slow and appeared to be written in a childish format, but that quickly ended after the first chapter. The author, Stacy McAnulty, put a lot of emotion into this book which made the characters and scenes come to life. Another interesting thing the author did was replace any words such as one or two and replaced then with the actual numbers, 1 and 2. I found this to be distracting but also slightly clever because the main character is a math genius. With all of this being said, I would rate this book at a whopping 5 stars and would say kids ages of 11 and up could easily read this book. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl reminded me of similar books such as, Benefits of being an Octopus, Saving Marty, and Song for a Whale. So, if you are a big fan of any of these books, then I highly suggest checking out The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl.
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, is about an ordinary girl named Lucy Callahan. Well, maybe not so ordinary. When Lucy was eight years she got struck by lightning in a rainstorm. She was knocked out, but recovered quickly in the hospital. When she returned back to her apartment with her grandma, she realized that she could perform any mathematical equation anyone gave her. And all of this was figured out by watching a car dealership commercial. Even though being a savant math genius is great, it does come with its own set of difficulties. Lucy has to sit and stand three times before sitting in a chair because if she doesn’t, then the numbers of Pi flood through her head and block out anything else around her. It makes her dizzy and she can’t focus, but when she does her routine of three, it never happens. Lucy is now also a huge germaphobe. She has to wipe everything down before using it, hasn’t even left her apartment in 3 weeks, and uses way to much hand-sanitizer. In order to avoid leaving home, Lucy home schools herself. However, when her grandmother forces her go to middle school for a year instead heading straight to college, Lucy fears there is no way to avoid humiliating herself. Will she make it through one entire year? Can she avoid the meanest girl in school? You will just have to find out in the amazing novel, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl!
Happy reading,
Evelyn Harrier
The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl, is about an ordinary girl named Lucy Callahan. Well, maybe not so ordinary. When Lucy was eight years she got struck by lightning in a rainstorm. She was knocked out, but recovered quickly in the hospital. When she returned back to her apartment with her grandma, she realized that she could perform any mathematical equation anyone gave her. And all of this was figured out by watching a car dealership commercial. Even though being a savant math genius is great, it does come with its own set of difficulties. Lucy has to sit and stand three times before sitting in a chair because if she doesn’t, then the numbers of Pi flood through her head and block out anything else around her. It makes her dizzy and she can’t focus, but when she does her routine of three, it never happens. Lucy is now also a huge germaphobe. She has to wipe everything down before using it, hasn’t even left her apartment in 3 weeks, and uses way to much hand-sanitizer. In order to avoid leaving home, Lucy home schools herself. However, when her grandmother forces her go to middle school for a year instead heading straight to college, Lucy fears there is no way to avoid humiliating herself. Will she make it through one entire year? Can she avoid the meanest girl in school? You will just have to find out in the amazing novel, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl!
Happy reading,
Evelyn Harrier
