After the school year of seventh grade ended, there was only one school thing left for me to do: Summer reading. You’d think this would be easy for me, of course. After all, I’m a great reader!
The books on the list didn’t excite me, however. They all looked like some kind of weird romance or fantasy that I wanted no part of. One of the books, however, was Millicent Min, Girl Genius by Lisa Yee, a good book that I’m glad to have read.
Although the main character in this book is a girl, I was able to identify with her a lot because she is smart like me, and she faces a number of debilitating social and family challenges.
Summary
Millicent Min is an eleven year-old girl who is enrolling in her first college class over the summer. She’s already about to be a senior in high school, and has won numerous awards for her intelligence.
Social skills don’t go so great for Millicent, however. She is able to befriend the teacher in her college class, but all the other students hate her. So do the people at her high school. After all; she sets the curve! Everyone her age is jealous of her for going to high school. Millicent has no friends.
She does have a cool grandmother, though. Maddie is in her fifties but still asks like she’s a young woman. She’s a remnant from the hippy movement, and Millicent loves spending time with her. It was Maddie who convinced Millicent’s parents to let her enroll in a college class.
Unfortunately, Maddie is planning to move away. Millicent doesn’t get along with her parents quite as well, and they are worried that she’s going too much into her mind and not getting enough interaction.
With that in mind, Millicent’s parents decide to sign her up for the volleyball team. She isn’t too thrilled at this as she’s not very athletic. Before too long, however, she realizes that it’s nice that nobody there knows how smart she is!
She soon befriends a girl named Emily who is also bad at volleyball. Millicent has never had a friend before, but she does her best to fake it with Emily, and does a pretty good job. Emily is a totally normal girl, and it makes Millicent feel really good to hang out with her. Of course, Millicent has to pretend that she’s just of average intelligence.
Joining the volleyball team isn’t the only thing Millicent’s parents have her do. They also have her tutor a boy named Stanford. Stanford is smart, but he pretends he isn’t for the sake of his friends. Their tutoring sessions are pretty painful.
Things get pretty sticky, however, when Emily and Stanford begin to flirt. Will Stanford reveal Millicent’s secret? Will Millicent become friendless once again, or will she be able to save her relationship with Emily?
Review
Millicent Min, Girl Genius is a great book. Millicent tells the story herself, and we get to know her very well. All of the other characters in the story are kind of weird, but they fit in with the crazy kind of world Millicent lives in.
Reading this book gives an interesting picture into what it is like to be a really smart kid, and I think a lot of people can relate. Although not many are gifted to quite the degree of Millicent, she is very interesting to a lot of smart people.
I found the social interactions interesting because it deals with some real problems. While some people may think any smart kid pretty much has it made, there are definitely trade-offs. This is one of the only books I have read that deals with complex middle school interactions and approaches them from a more basic level for people still trying to get into that world.
I’d definitely recommend this book. The main character is a girl, so a lot of boys may not enjoy reading it as much. However, there are also books written from the perspective of Stanford and Emily. I haven’t read them, but I would guess they’re also very good.
Millicent Min, Girl Genius is a great book for middle-school aged kids. You don’t have to be a genius to realize that Lisa Yee did an awesome job with this book!
Click here to buy Millicent Min, Girl Genius
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Thank you for your kind words, Daniel. Hope you have a great summer filled with great books!!!
I read Millicent Min so many years ago. Thanks for the reminder – my daughter is the right age for it now.
I’ll be checking this one out. This seems like a great book for kids dealing with being smart in a world not always open to that. Thanks for another great review.
this sounds like a book I’d like to read. I think it would have been nice if Millicent and Stanford began to flirt :o) But, I haven’t read the book – so maybe not. Thanks for your review.
This is a must read for me and I do have it on my list.
Hopefully I will get to it soon.
Thanks for the review.
Great review! This is one of my favourite books and now that I’ve read your thoughts I want to read it all over again.
Daniel thanks for your kind words. This seems like a great book for kids dealing with being smart in a world not always open to that. Thanks for another great review.