Review of Millicent Min, Girl Genius, by Lisa Yee

This is a book for fourth- to sixth-grade readers, shelved in the local library in Juvenile Fiction rather than Young Adult. Millicent is a phenomenon, already attending high school and enrolling in a summer course in poetry at the local college at age eleven. Unfortunately, Millicent's genius has isolated her from others in her age group, and the social behaviors she has developed to cope with her isolation have only exacerbated her oddness. She has been teased and tormented by kids her age, excluded by the high school and college students she meets. Her only real friend has been her grandmother, Maddie, a feisty, independent-minded, sociable woman who gently probes Millicent's self-isolating behaviors, like putting up a wall of 4-syllable words when flustered. Millicent dismisses much of her fun-loving parents' behavior as immature, and she is embarrassed by them, but she listens to Maddie, even if she seems unable to act on Maddie's advice. Except for Maddie's company, Millicent seems determined to live life exclusively in the intellect, reading sophisticated books in trees and training her binoculars on the neighbors.

But this summer is different! Millicent's family members have conspired to plunge her into social situations with kids her age. She's been signed up for volleyball and hired as a tutor for her nemesis, Stanford Wong. Volleyball gives her the opportunity to make a real friend her own age--the new-to-town, homeschooled Emily, who doesn't know Millicent's history as child genius/social leper.

Now at this point, I have to say that I came to Millicent Min, Girl Genius by way of Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time. Having read the second book first, I came to Millicent Min with a great deal of fondness for Stanford, whose summer has been ruined by his failing English--he has to attend summer school instead of attending the awesome basketball camp he's been dreaming of for months. And when Stanford works hard, actually listening to Millicent, and is thrilled to get a C+, everybody around him seems to be disappointed that he didn't get a higher grade.

So reading Millicent Min, Girl Genius, I lose some of my sympathy for Millicent in the tutoring situation. She does not understand Stanford at all, and she does not understand how Emily can find Stanford attractive. She doesn't recognize his small overtures until he teaches her how to serve a volleyball--and then she remains suspicious of him. Millicent has a lot in common with Harriet the Spy--just not very likable. She keeps a lot to herself, including her misconceptions about others. Readers can't help but cheer, though, when she takes a few small steps into appreciating friendship and appreciating her parents--and when her progress in volleyball is acknowledged.

I haven't decided yet whether Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time is a better book. I kind of think so, but I'd hate to be cavalier in dismissing Millicent. She may not be likable, but she's got the weight of the world on her shoulders, and she can't figure out how to be normal, so she dismisses normality as irrelevant to her goals and her life. You gotta feel for an 11-year-old who's living that kind of a life.