Starred review from January 12, 2004
Youthful actress Agena, perhaps best known for her role as Lane Kim on TV's Gilmore Girls
, is perfect as Millicent Min, a certified genius who still has plenty to learn in this humorous and touching novel. Millicent has always been an overachiever, and takes pride in the fact that she will be entering her senior year of high school when her contemporaries begin sixth grade. Though she's long been content to spend hours at the library or visiting with her grandmother, the summer before 12th grade provides Millicent's social life a real jolt. Millicent's mom has signed her up for a volleyball team, and Millicent will be tutoring a family friend her own age, Stanford Wong. But along the way, Millicent finds her first true friend in 11-year-old Emily. And best of all—at least initially—Emily doesn't know a thing about Millicent's intellectual gifts and thinks Millicent is swell all the same. Agena nails the assured tone of someone who has reached lofty goals and received heaps of praise. In addition, her interpretation of Millicent's attempts to be a little more hip or popular are laugh-out-loud funny (just as they are written in Yee's fine debut novel). A solid and enjoyable listening experience from start to finish. Ages 8-12. (Oct. 2003).
August 30, 2004
An 11-year-old breezes through high school and college classes, but when it comes to making friends her own age, she's at a loss. "Readers don't have to share the heroine's IQ to empathize with the genius narrator of this energetic first novel," wrote PW
in a starred review. Ages 9-12.