The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty

Rating ***** (5 stars)

​Lightning Girl is different. When she was in second grade she was struck by lightning and developed servant syndrome. She is really good with numbers, I mean genius level good. It just comes with a few quirks, like compulsive behaviors. At the age of 12 Lightning Girl has her GED, and a perfect score on the math section of the SATs. However, she has not left the house in weeks. Her grandmother is worried, so her grand solution is to enroll her in Middle School. 

Middle School is hard enough, let alone for a genius trying to bide her time until her grandmother lets her out. There are a lot of ups and downs, and typical challenges of middle school. It would be easy for any girl who is different to find a way to relate to Lightning Girl, especially girls who like math and have behaviors that are different then their peers. 

In reality, the concept behind Lightning Girl's unique abilities is kind of absurd. It is like a middle school fantasy explaining away their own uniqueness and exaggerating it to make them a bit extra special. That is why it works. I really enjoyed the ending, I was a bit hesitant to see how it would end, but I think McAnulty closed it up perfectly. I really enjoyed the book, and stayed up late to finish it. I would have loved this novel in middle school, even more than I do now.