Geek Girl
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4.7 • 6 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.”
The first book in the bestselling, award-winning GEEK GIRL series!
Harriet Manners knows that a cat has 32 muscles in each ear, a “jiffy” lasts 1/100th of a second, and the average person laughs 15 times per day. She knows that bats always turn left when exiting a cave and that peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
But she doesn’t know why nobody at school seems to like her.
So when Harriet is spotted by a top model agent, she grabs the chance to reinvent herself. Even if it means stealing her best friend's dream, incurring the wrath of her arch enemy Alexa, and repeatedly humiliating herself in front of impossibly handsome model Nick. Even if it means lying to the people she loves.
Veering from one couture disaster to the next with the help of her overly enthusiastic father and her uber-geeky stalker, Toby, Harriet begins to realise that the world of fashion doesn't seem to like her any more than the real world did.
As her old life starts to fall apart, will Harriet be able to transform herself before she ruins everything?
The award-winning debut by bestselling author Holly Smale.
Reviews
'Harriet's comical and cringeworthy misadventures in the world of fashion are guaranteed to get you laughing.' The Week Junior
‘Genius.’ MaximumPop!
'You can't fail to like Harriet.' Parents in Touch
"A smart, sassy and very funny debut." The Bookseller
"Loved GEEK GIRL. Wise, funny and true, with a proper nerd heroine you're laughing with as much as at. Almost." James Henry, writer of Smack the Pony and Green Wing
"A feel-good satisfying gem that will have teens smiling from cover to cover, and walking a little taller after reading" – Books for Keeps
“I would highly recommend Geek Girl to anyone who likes a good laugh and enjoys a one-of-a-kind story.” Mia,Guardian Children’s Books website
About the author
Holly Smale is the author of Geek Girl, Model Misfit and Picture Perfect. She was unexpectedly spotted by a top London modelling agency at the age of fifteen and spent the following two years falling over on catwalks, going bright red and breaking things she couldn’t afford to replace. By the time Holly had graduated from Bristol University with a BA in English Literature and an MA in Shakespeare she had given up modelling and set herself on the path to becoming a writer.
Geek Girl was the no. 1 bestselling young adult fiction title in the UK in 2013. It was shortlisted for several major awards including the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and the Branford Boase award, nominated for the Queen of Teen award and won the teen and young adult category of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the 11-14 category of the Leeds Book Award.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
It’s impossible not to fall in love with Harriet Manners, the delightfully awkward heroine of Holly Smale’s series for readers of all ages. Harriet’s brain is like a pinwheel on a blustery day—and Geek Girl treats us to a stream-of-consciousness peek into her thoughts on topics like friendship and shopping, her staggering retention of esoteric facts and her hilarious analyses of social situations. Things get even weirder for Harriet when she’s thrust into the world of modeling. This sweet, funny book is a balm for anyone who’s ever felt like a social outcast.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British teen Harriet Manners is the official school geek, and she suffers constant torment by her peers. When Harriet's longtime best friend Nat, an aspiring model, drags her to a fashion event, it's Harriet, not Nat, who gets "discovered," driving a wedge between them. As 15-year-old Harriet is whisked to Moscow for photo shoots, fashion shows, and the promise of future fame and fortune, she and her father lie to everyone about their whereabouts, creating all manner of complications. Debut author Smale, a former model herself, gives Harriet an instantly appealing narrative voice, full of discursions and self-deprecation wisecracking, down-on-her-luck Harriet is easy to warm to. If the ugly duckling turned swan is clich , both Smale and Harriet know it. "I could go from proverbial caterpillar to butterfly, from tadpole to frog," thinks Harriet. "From larva to dragonfly (which is actually only a half metamorphosis, but still I think worth mentioning)." Other overfamiliar types (including Harriet's extravagantly flamboyant agent and an ultra-severe fashion maven) deflate the story's fun somewhat, but most readers will thoroughly enjoy Harriet's uproarious misadventures. Ages 13 up.
