The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl

I am unexpectedly disappointed. This didn't do much for me. Not much happened, yet a lot was left ambiguous. But not in an open-ended way—more just unfinished. I think it could have been far more compelling, if things were explored a little more. I wanted to have a deeper understanding of Lucy. I wanted both Lucy and other characters to wrestle more with tensions between expressing yourself sans inhibition and trying to be “normal.” I wanted Lucy's OCD to be explained better, and I wanted some of the judgmental responses to OCD to be challenged. It seemed almost tacked on to make it harder for Lucy to blend in. I also think the “aloof boy always taking photos” trope is played out. And it romanticizes voyeurism. And it pretends candidly snapping pictures of a girl you secretly care for is interchangeable with emotional sensitivity. Middle grade is probably too young a genre for this to even be a thing.It does incorporate diversity, and I liked how Lucy's narration never spelled out any numbers. But it didn't move me like a lot of middle grade has. [b:Ghost 28954126 Ghost (Track, #1) Jason Reynolds https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1468787024s/28954126.jpg 49179183] and [b:Okay for Now 9165406 Okay for Now Gary D. Schmidt https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388860777s/9165406.jpg 14044509] both had great character development, for example. Examples featuring girl protagonists include [b:The Benefits of Being an Octopus 35890044 The Benefits of Being an Octopus Ann Braden https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522849548s/35890044.jpg 57406781], [b:Front Desk 36127488 Front Desk Kelly Yang https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507986199s/36127488.jpg 51903030], or even [b:Matilda 39988 Matilda Roald Dahl https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388793265s/39988.jpg 1015554]. This wasn't outright bad, per se. I had high hopes, and they fell flat. I realize I'm in the minority here. Hopefully you like it more than me.