Nerd Girls: The Rise of the Dorkasaurus
The Rise of the Dorkasaurus
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
"Mean Girls meets Revenge of the Nerds, middle-school style, in a novel that peeks into the lives of an offbeat cast of 13-year-olds." --Publishers Weekly
Maureen, a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed dork-a-saurus, is totally addicted to cupcakes and hot dogs and thinks that her body looks like a baked potato.
Allergy-plagued Alice can't touch a mango without breaking out in a rash, and if she eats wheat, her vision goes blurry.
Klutzy to the extreme, Barbara is a beanpole who often embarrasses herself in front of the whole school.
These outcasts don't have much in common -- other than the fact that they are often targets of the ThreePees: the Pretty, Popular, Perfect girls who rule the school. But one day Maureen decides that it's time to topple the eight-grade social regime. She joins forces with Alice and Barbara and the Nerd Girls enter the school talent show, determined to take the crown from the ThreePees.
Will their routine be enough to de-throne the popular crowd? Or will their plan backfire and shake their hold on the bottom rung of the social ladder?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mean Girls meets Revenge of the Nerds, middle-school style, in a novel that peeks into the lives of an offbeat cast of 13-year-olds in suburban California. Self-proclaimed "anti-cool" Maureen, who's embarrassed about her weight, reluctantly bonds with two other eighth-grade outcasts hypersensitive Allergy Alice Applebee and clumsy Beanpole Barbara over their dislike of the ThreePees, a trio of girls who are "Pretty, Popular, and Perfect." After much trash talk, ridicule, and the cruel posting of a humiliating YouTube video starring Maureen, the two groups of girls prepare for a showdown in the school's talent contest. Sitomer's (The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez) characters mostly remain one-note caricatures: Alice's constant use of her "scuba tank" inhaler (with "wheeesh-whooosh" sound effects); Beanpole's refrain "Don't worry, I'm okay. I'm okay" after bumping into things; and ditzy ThreePee Sofes's malapropisms and non sequiturs. But notes of tenderness and warmth eventually give (some) depth to Maureen and her crew. If the characters and situations feel simplified, there's enough emotional heft to the girls' insecurities, as well as humor and snark in Maureen's thoughts and conversations, to compensate. Ages 11 up.
