YA author to visit students at the Ursuline School in New Rochelle

Author Annabel Monaghan is visiting students at the Ursuline School on Dec. 17 in New Rochelle. Her young adult series about “Digit,” a young woman who earned her nickname because of her advanced math skills, has attracted a trove of fans and will gain even more attention as A Girl Named Digit is set to become a Disney Channel movie.

A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt series, A Girl Named Digit introduces readers to Farrah “Digit” Higgins, the daughter of a UCLA math professor, who unknowingly cracks a terrorist group’s number sequence. Her senior year of high school quickly takes a turn when she is personally investigating the case, on the run from terrorists, and faking her own kidnapping – all while trying to convince a young, hot FBI agent to take her seriously. In the sequel, Double Digit, Digit is starting out her college career at MIT. Because of her off the charts math abilities, though, her laptop is under surveillance by both the CIA and an ecoterrorist. So when she thoughtlessly hacks into the Department of Defense’s database, she lands in serious hot water inside and outside the law.

“The message in these books is that everyone has gifts, and that it’s critical that we own up to ours and use them,” said Monaghan. “We spend a lot of middle school and high school trying to blend in, but we all have some sort of passion or talent that differentiates us. It’s important for our happiness, and maybe even important to our survival, that we listen to ourselves and follow our passions. And when it comes to math and science, girls need to know that all doors are open to them.”

The books provide a complex set of characters, people who may do the wrong things, but for the right reasons and who aren’t clearly good or bad. “The world is not made up of good and bad, and smart and stupid,” Monaghan said. “The beauty of life is often found in the grey area.”

The Digit series is available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats, as well as audiobooks on Audible.com. Double Digit’s paperback release is scheduled for January 2015.

“Digit’s first-person narrative immediately engages readers with low-key realistic scenes, insightful character portrayals, and amusing moments before ratcheting up the tension with high drama and action,” said Carolyn Phelan of Booklist on Double Digit.

Along with the popular Digit series, Monaghan is also the co-author of Click! The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen and is a columnist for The Rye Record and The Week.

ABOUT ANNABEL MONAGHAN

Annabel Monaghan is the author of A Girl Named Digit and Double Digit and is co-author of Click! The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen. She grew up in Los Angeles, pondering traffic and what motivates people to put bumper stickers on their cars. She has since become an avid bumper sticker collector, and, like her character Digit, displays them only inside her house.

She writes a bi-weekly column for The Rye Record and is lifestyle columnist at The Week. She is also a regular contributor to The Huffington Post. Annabel has a degree in English from Duke University, an MBA from The University of Pennsylvania and a brief history as an investment banker. She lives in Rye, New York with her husband and three sons.

Along with her own social media accounts, the heroine of her series, “Digit,” also has her own social media. Check out “digithiggins” on Instagram and @digithiggins on Twitter.

Q&A WITH ANNABEL MONAGHAN

Where did the idea come from for this girl-genius series?

I was originally interested in the idea of a fake kidnapping. I wondered what it would be like to be fake kidnapped in high school, to have everyone worried about where you were while you were out having a great time. Then I wondered what kind of a teenager would ever need to be fake kidnapped… which naturally led me to a teenaged math genius who accidentally stumbles on a terror plot and has to be hidden by the FBI.

Are you a math genius? Did you make up all the codes in these books?

I really like math and am interested in codes and all things that can get you to a precise answer. Sadly, I’m only pretty good at math, so when I work through a code or an equation, I need lots of time, a quiet room and plenty of snacks. All of the codes in both books are things I found in the library or on the Internet. My favorite code from Double Digit was actually used by the U.S. military in World War II.

How are you like Digit?

Most authors throw a little of themselves into their main character. Like Digit, I’m from Los Angeles, wear pretty much the same outfit all the time and collect bumper stickers. In fact, a wall of my kitchen is covered in bumper stickers in the same way Digit covers all four walls of her bedroom. We both may be a little quirky.

Why did you decide to make the villains eco-terrorists?

I really like the grey area of life, primarily because life is almost all grey area. People aren’t only good or only bad. We are all so much more complex than that. So I liked the idea of a genius character like Digit who keeps doing really dumb things. As a complement to her, I created an evil villain who is doing horrible things but for all of the right reasons. It’s hard to argue with people who want to protect the environment… unless they’re trying to kill people.

Do you like John or Bass better? (from Double Digit)

In Double Digit, Digit’s a little conflicted between her feelings for John and Bass. I get emails every single day from girls who have really, really strong opinions about this. There’s such a strong love between John and Digit, but it could feel a little suffocating. And Bass plays the guitar, and everyone knows a guitar pretty much trumps everything. Digit and I are both still figuring out how we feel.

Is there going to be a third book?

The third book (unnamed because all logical names feel really corny) is almost entirely completed inside my head. The trick is going to be to get it out of my head and into my computer. This is almost always the hardest part. Stay tuned!

Who’s going to play Digit in the Disney Channel movie?

Oh I wish I knew! They are not that far along yet, so I can’t wait to see. I obviously have a very strong mental image of Digit; like in my mind she can’t be too pretty or too cool. She’s got goofiness about her that I really love.