The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl Quotes

“Levi and I live in the same world, but we see things very differently. I guess it would be boring if we all had the same view.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Don’t be afraid of numbers. Use them to compute your solutions. Look at the world as it is intended.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“And changing the world is a tall order for someone who is just trying to survive each day.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Feeling wanted beats feeling safe. So I stay.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Nana gives me a ride to school the next morning because I accidentally miss the bus. I consider accidentally falling out of the car, but that would probably hurt.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Other people might need to add in friends or sports or money or something else, but my equation is already solved.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“This is pi to the 500th decimal place: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024914127372458700660631”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“1 year, 1 friend, 1 activity, 1 book.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“LG, if you can solve this freakin’ problem, I’m going to marry you and we’ll make little lightning babies.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Plus, I needed a jolt. I stayed up all night listening to Hamilton.” “Okay?” I don’t mean for it to sound like a question. “The Tony Award–winning musical,” she says. “You know it, right?” I shake my head. “I’m not into music.” “You should listen to it. Life-changing!”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“π=3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024914127372458700660631”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“I worry she might know my ability and my secret, and quoting Einstein will only make her more suspicious. So I lie and say my favorite quote is Dory’s famous line from Finding Nemo: “Just keep swimming.” She nods like this makes complete sense.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Life is like an equation, and mine is perfectly balanced. Nana + Uncle Paul + Math = Happiness Other people might need to add in friends or sports or money or something else, but my equation is already solved.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Lightning. It’s your good-luck symbol.” Uncle Paul helps me put it on. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Right?” “I wouldn’t recommend getting struck. Lightning kills an average of 47 people in America every year and severely injures hundreds, maybe thousands.” To my disappointment, the government only keeps an accurate count of those who die.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“MathWhiz?” I ask. “Yes,” Mr. Stoker says. “My user name is—” “SquareHead314?” Could I have been friends with a teacher? “No. Don’t laugh. It’s MathMaster. I’m not really on that much.” I recognize the name. I always thought I deserved it. I even considered asking him/her to give it up. I was willing to math-duel for it.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“She shrugs. Windy likes to think big, and she needs someone else to pull her back to earth. I’m her gravity.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Bangladesh.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“What about your parents? Where are they? Dead or something?” “Yeah.” “Oh my god, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—” I hold up a hand to stop her apology. “It’s okay. My mom died of ovarian cancer when I was a baby. I don’t remember her. And I never knew my dad. He didn’t stick around.” Uncle Paul says my dad split 2 seconds after the pregnancy test came back positive, and that it was a good decision for all of us—especially me. Windy’s eyebrows lift high on her face, and her lips turn down. “Lucy, I’m so sorry. You’re like an orphan.” I laugh. “Stop. Please. I’m not an orphan.” I’ve thought of myself as a genius, a savant, and a freak, but never an orphan. Nana has always been there, and Uncle Paul, too. “I’m fine. I don’t need you to collect canned goods for me or give me a coat for winter. I have a family.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“We’ll be a team, right?” “Sure,” I say. “But we need another person.” “I’ll find someone. No problem. Then we’re going to change the world.” She says it like she believes it. “Great.” I want to be excited with her. But I don’t think we’ll even be able to find someone willing to work with us—willing to work with me. And changing the world is a tall order for someone who is just trying to survive each day.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“This string of numbers takes over my brain if I don’t follow my pattern. It’s like an alien invasion in my head. The digits are loud and bright, and I can’t do anything else. I can’t even think about anything else, because they block everything.” I don’t tell her the numbers are digits of pi. That’s an unnecessary detail.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“That’s not what I mean.” I’d been hoping that Nana would change her mind about middle school. I refused to give her my records of classes and grades. But she figured out my password (lucy31415; I need to think of something harder) and printed my files. She only took the records through 6th grade, nothing higher. “Lucy, we’ve been over this. Give it a year. You can always start college when you’re 13. That’s still 5 years earlier than most people.” “There’s a 12-year-old boy starting at Cornell this month!” “Well, he obviously has a nicer grandmother than you do. College can wait.” “It can wait 1 year? That’s it, right? Can I get that in writing?” I slide my lightning-bolt necklace under my shirt. “I promise.” She says it too easily. “Give it 1 year and really make a go of it. Make 1 friend. Do 1 thing outside of these walls. Read 1 book not written by an economist or a mathematician.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“For the most part. We use a lot of computer resources.” Nana smooths my hair. I push her hand away. “Do you have her records?” he asks. “The state requires attendance, grades, and end-of-year—” “All A’s,” Nana interrupts again. “Lucy’s very smart. Very, very smart.” She doesn’t say genius, or savant, or prodigy. She doesn’t mention the lightning strike. “Do you have any records?” He folds his hands and puts them on his desk. It’s like he already knows the answer. “I’ll email them to you,” she says. Nana hasn’t kept any records, but I have. All my grades are neatly organized in a spreadsheet, and I have copies of every test, project, and paper stored in folders.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Uncle Paul doesn’t laugh. “You can’t stay holed up in this apartment. What about friends? What about fresh air? She probably has a vitamin D deficiency.” “I have friends, and I get plenty of vitamin D. I take a gummy vitamin every morning.” “How many?” Nana asks. “Vitamins?” “Friends?” “Um…” This is actually a hard answer to calculate. What makes someone a friend? A shared interest? Is there a minimum amount of time you need to spend together? Does the other person need to call you a friend, too? Nana rubs the back of her neck. “I think this is the real—” “4!” I shout. “I have 4 friends.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“The doctors call my condition acquired savant syndrome. Savant means that my math skills are far beyond normal, and acquired means I wasn’t born with this wacky ability. I got it because I was holding a metal fence during a lightning storm. Cecelia didn’t get any special powers.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Idon’t remember the moment that changed my life 4 years ago. Call it a side effect of being struck by lightning. That bolt of electricity burned a small hole in my memory. It also rewired my brain, transforming me into Lucille Fanny Callahan, math genius.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“social media.”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“2 dogs. Cocker spaniels”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“Girl Scouts,”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

“π=3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024914127372458700660631 These digits repeat”
― Stacy McAnulty, The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl