The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

Surprisingly fun. An enjoyable read with side characters that I think everyone can relate to in one way or another, and learn from them as well.

When Lucy was eight years old, she was struck by lightning while holding on to a metal fence. As a result, she has acquired savant syndrome; Lucy can not only tackle any mathematical problem but she can also see math in colors and remembers every set of numbers she hears or sees. It is no surprise that Pi is favorite number (and she can recite it to the 314th decimal place). Having this rare condition is not without its drawbacks. Lucy has obsessive compulsive tendencies, no offline friends, and hasn’t left the apartment she shared with her Nana for 32 days. While Lucy wants to begin college, Nana proposes an alternate plan. Go to middle school for at least 1 year. Make 1 friend. Join 1 activity. Read 1 book that is not math related. Nana wins. Lucy accomplishes her first goal quickly. On her first bus ride to school, she becomes friends with socially conscious Windy. But adjusting to middle school is still tough especially because of Lucy’s constant need to sanitize, her repetitive sitting behavior, and her desire to keep her giftedness hidden from her peers including Windy. A group service project with Windy and budding photographer Levi gives Lucy the opportunity to use her math genius for a good cause-helping dogs gets adopted at a local shelter. At the shelter, Lucy meets Cutie Pi, a beagle mix (Yes, you heard it, a beagle!) with a lightning bolt spot on its back and is determined to find him a home. Being a dog mom, seeing Lucy’s affection for Pi was heartwarming. Her relationship with Pi was one of my favorite parts of the story. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is a touching and engaging story about fitting in, finding yourself and most of all, friendship. Lucy soon learns that all things are not easy to calculate. As a reader, I calculate a few important lessons from this must read middle grade novel. -Sometimes numbers aren’t all that matter. -No problem is unsolvable. -If you have a couple of friends who accept you for who you are, you are pretty lucky.

I'm just going to say it: I loved this book! It is the middle grade equivalent of ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE. (If you haven't read that one, get right on it.) Thanks to a lightning bolt, Lucy is smarter than your average 12 year-old (or 40-something year-old, for that matter), but her Nana insists she needs to experience real life in the form of middle school. While she might be able to hide her math prowess to fit it, it's much more difficult to hide her OCD. Seeing how the world looks through Lucy's eyes was wonderful and thought-provoking. Stacy McAnulty manages to shows such character growth without Lucy ever changing who she really is. Ultimately, it's a story about friendship, forgiveness, and accepting people even when they turn out to be different than your first impression. I was in a puddle of tears at the end. Bonus: This book makes learning a little something about math easy because you're not learning math, but rather learning about Lucy who loves math and sees it in everything. It says it's for ages 8-12, but I couldn't have loved it more. So, buy it for your upper elementary or middle school student, but I suggest you preread before they do it. You know, just to make sure it's a good read for them. ;-)

Middle school is hard, but this middle grade novel reminds us that all we need is a good friend or two and we can get through it. Although there are a few bullies, and there always are, this story is full of likable characters and good messages for readers young and old.

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl has a unique premise. Lucy Callahan was struck by lightning at age eight, making her a math genius. Nana homeschools Lucy until she’s 12, when Lucy believes she’s ready for college. But Nana makes a deal. First Lucy must go to 7th grade at East Hamlin Middle School, make one new friend, do one activity, read one book (non-math textbook). Starting middle school is challenging enough, but Lucy also has OCD. Some of her symptoms are invisible (reciting the digits of pi in her head), while others aren’t (sitting and standing three times before being able to fully sit down, compulsive fear of germs and use of hand wipes). At an age when kids just want to fit in, Lucy knows she stands out. The mean girls call her a freak. A dreaded group project requires her to work with Windy, a friend, and Levi, a frenemy. It’s through this project that we see Lucy grow as she comes up with a plan – volunteering at a homeless animal shelter. It’s Lucy’s commitment to helping one of the rescue dogs, Pi, that leads to the surprising yet inevitable ending. I loved this story of becoming comfortable in your own skin, standing up for what you believe in, and the power of friendship and family.

My daughter loved and devoured this book in the beginning of 5th grade! Still trying to find ones to compare!

Great book for summer reading for upper elementary/lower middle school grade/age level. Entertaining. The right size.

I read this book as a 5th grade teacher before putting it in my classroom. I really enjoyed this book, recommending it for my 5th graders!

Compré el libro porque leí las primeras páginas y me hizo gracia. Luego lo vio mi hija de 12 años que es muy lectora, lo empezó, le enganchó y lo leyó entusiasmada. Dice que es un libro muy bueno. Yo creo que sí es un libro adecuado para esa edad.

This book has a wonderful message to share. I think it really relates to the feelings 12-13 year olds have. It brings your hopes up, and teaches you that everything is going to be ok, even though it seem really scary in the beginning.

interesting story. we read it together as a family.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AAAAA+++++++

The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty published in 2018. This middle grade novel is about Lucy, a 12 year old girl who, when struck by lightning, develops an incredible ability in mathematics. After a period of home schooling, her grandmother/guardian decides that attending a regular school will help Lucy develop social skills. I don’t think The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is a good middle grade novel, I think it’s a good novel, which just happens to have children as its characters. The categorisation of novel by age group started developing in earnest in the 1960s, so that today there’s a feeling that people have to read novels featuring characters who are like themselves. That’s alright, except for the fact that novels are also useful in finding out about people who are not like themselves. I am not a 12 year old girl with social anxiety and incredible abilities in maths. I am a man in his fifties who has never felt much of an affinity with maths - but that doesn’t mean I can’t find The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl interesting. One of the things that Lucy learns during her time at school is that although she might feel like the only freak in the world, other people have their own concerns and are not really taking much notice of you. That’s what books can provide - an insight into things other than ourselves. So maths - I have enough ability to muddle along, but have never been something very comfortable with. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl was an education for me, a window into the world of maths. I was good at English at school, a subject which I believed was an altogether vaguer affair. But what did I know. Lucy loves the constant known as pi - a number which you get in dividing a circle’s circumference by its diameter. This simple calculation comes out as a number that goes on forever, beginning 3.14159…. with as many numbers after that as you want. Pi is constant, applying to any circle of any size. But you can never say precisely what pi is, because you can never get to the end of it. There is something fundamentally dependable about Lucy’s favourite bit of maths, something that always remains the same. But there is also an unknowable quality about it. I imagined there was a big difference between the precise world of maths and the uncertainties of life which people write about in stories. That, however is not really true. Maths and more artistic pursuits are not so far apart after all. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is a good novel for school children. It will teach them about maths and show how it can be used to solve real world problems that will mean something to them - like boosting the chances of adoption of dogs at a dog shelter. There are also a few lessons about dealing with difficult social situations. Beyond that, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl is, as I say, a good novel. It says something about life that is relevant generally.