Millicent Min, Girl
Genius is an exemplar for the #weneeddiversebooks movement. Our
protagonist, Millie, is Chinese American, but it is never more than a
background detail about the character. I have students who enjoyed seeing
someone who looked like them on the cover of a novel, and were even happier to
discover that it’s a good book.
At only eleven, Millicent has just entered the summer before
her senior year of high school. That’s when everything starts to change: her
mother signs her up for volleyball, her beloved grandmother is moving away, and
she has to tutor the aggravating Stanford Wong. It’s not all bad, though. It
seems that Millie is making a new friend, if only she doesn’t scare Emily off
with her genius. We all know what happens when someone tries to hide his or her
true self.
Some of my students will be reading this as part of their
social issues book clubs. I’m happy that the social issue doesn’t revolve
around being a minority, but rather about trying to fit in. I found Millie to
be a charming narrator and am eager to hear what my students think.
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