Synopsis: “My name is Harriet Manners, and I am a geek.”
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?
Title: Geek Girl
Author: Holly Smale
Publisher: HarperCollins Children’s Books
Pages: 356
ISBN: 978-0007489442
Rating: 
If I could pick a modern children’s book that defines why I love reading, this would be the one. I absolutely adored Geek Girl; in fact I devoured it in a day, and am currently trying to get the second one as soon as possible to read.
I picked up Geek Girl because I’ve just gone through two traumatic books and, quite frankly, I needed a serious break. Geek Girl was the only children’s book on my shelf that I haven’t read yet (not sure whether this fact should be worrying or not!?); and it was the perfect choice. The protagonist, Harriet, is witty and a true geek; she reminds me of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory but not as cynical of everyone else’s average IQ. I actually learnt quite a few facts from this book, for example:
‘Red is the longest wavelength of light discernible by the human eye.’
The story is original, surprising, and hilariously funny. Smale has a gift for weaving different storylines with enough humour to make you laugh out loud and a strong message that isn’t overbearing on the rest of the plot.
Geek Girl is everything I hoped it would be, but a million times more entertaining. It is a heart-warming, witty, fast-paced story and supplies a load of facts that I will attempt to use as much as possible in conversation.
A Literary Mind 