So maths – I have enough ability to muddle along, but have never been something very comfortable with it. That’s what books can provide – an insight into things other than us.
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. 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. I am not a 12 year old girl with social anxiety and incredible abilities in maths. That’s alright, except for the fact that novels are also useful in finding out about people who are not like ourselves. 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. 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. After a period of home schooling, her grandmother/guardian decides that attending a regular school will help Lucy develop social skills. This middle grade novel is about Lucy, a 12 year old girl who, when struck by lightning, develops an incredible ability in mathematics. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty published in 2018.
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