''Millicent Min, Girl Genius'' is a 2003 children's novel by

Lisa Yee Lisa Yee (born August 27, 1959) is a Chinese American writer and the author of '' Millicent Min, Girl Genius'' (2003), '' Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time'' (2005) and '' So Totally Emily Ebers'' (2007). The three books are a part of a trilogy, summ ...

. The author's first published book, it centers around a girl

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

named Millicent Min who attends high school in the fictional town of Rancho Rosetta,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. This young girl has a lot of trouble in her social circle, hated by her peers and fellow students, she's an 11-year-old genius with no friends. To make things worse, she has to play

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and tutor her arch-enemy, Stanford Wong, who's flunking sixth grade. Then Millicent meets the nice Emily Ebers, a fellow volleyball victim, who has recently moved to California. Befriending Emily, Millicent thinks that to become her friend she has to hide the fact that she's smart and begins to invoke a series of lies. The rest of the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

is spent with Millicent trying to keep her secret from Emily while also having to deal with other problems such as her Grandmother Maddie moving away and having to deal with Stanford, especially when he finds out about Emily and befriends her as well. In the companion books, '' Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time'' and '' So Totally Emily Ebers'', this situation is shown from the other children's points of view.

Summary

Millicent Min has skipped five grades, has won third place at the National Math Bowl, has appeared on Jeopardy, and been featured in PBS specials and TIME Magazine; now, she is looking forward to becoming senior valedictorian and earning a scholarship to an Ivy League university- at age 11. Despite her young age, the socially inept Millicent has already completed 11th grade and is anticipating a summer of taking a college poetry course. However, Millicent's mother unexpectedly signs Millicent up for volleyball and assigns her a job tutoring Stanford Wong, a basketball player, in an effort to improve her social skills. In addition, Millicent's grandmother Maddie, her best and only friend, is leaving for England to attend a feng shui academy. In volleyball, Millicent expects to be ostracized by her peers for her intelligence once more when she befriends Emily, an outgoing girl who has recently moved from New Jersey. In order to maintain her friendship with Emily, her first friend, Millicent believes she must hide her high IQ and pretend that she is home-schooled. She fears that Emily will treat her just like everyone else has if she learns that Millicent is a genius. When Emily finds Millicent and Stanford in the library at one of their tutoring sessions, Millicent acts as the failing student and treats Stanford as the genius. Stanford agrees to pretend to be the tutor, as Stanford develops a crush on Emily, and out of a need to impress her, acts smart, believing that it is the only reason that Emily likes him. Both Stanford's and Millicent's lying to Emily bond them together helping them develop a friendly relationship. One night, during a sleepover at Millicent's house, Emily finds out that Millicent is actually a genius when she discovers her hidden awards. Angry that Millicent had been hiding all this from her, she storms out of the house, breaking off their friendship. Emily even rejects Stanford after figuring out that he has also taken part in lying to Emily. On top of all this, Millicent is also having problems at home. Her father is jobless, and her mother is showing symptoms of a potentially fatal brain tumor. Eventually, after Millicent begins to come to terms with the problem and faces Emily, they quickly reconcile and become friends again after a few sincere apologies. After attending a Labor Day Fiesta, Millicent is also able to make amends with Stanford, who was able to pass his English Class after all. As the end of summer approaches, Millicent says goodbye to her Grandmother at the airport and discovers her dad has received a job at RadioShack. Millicent is also able to learn that her Mother is not sick but pregnant with her future sibling. As the final day of summer concludes, it's also revealed that Maddie will be traveling back home to welcome her new grandchild as Millicent finally falls asleep, "too happy and sad and tired to even think."

Awards and nominations

*Sid Fleischman Humor Award 2004 *Publishers Weekly Flying Start *CCBC Choice *Bank Street Book of the Year 2004 *

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dial ...

Children's Choice *2005-2006 Texas Lone Star List Nominee *The Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee *

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Book Award Nominee * Garden State Book Awards Nominee *

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Young Readers Choice Award Nominee *

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Young Readers Award Nominee *Nene Award Nominee (

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

) *Insinglass Teen Award Nominee (

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

) *

Young Reader's Choice Award The Young Reader's Choice Award is an award program of the Pacific Northwest Library Association (PNLA) which was inaugurated in 1940 by Harry Hartman, a well-known Seattle based bookseller. It is the oldest "children's choice" award in the U.S. ...

Nominee - Pacific Northwest Library Association *

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Junior Book Award Nominee

External links

Lisa Yee's official websiteMillicent Min Page on Arthur A. Levine Books
American children's novels 2003 American novels Novels set in California 2003 children's books 2003 debut novels Arthur A. Levine Books books Children's books set in California