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Geek Girl by Holly Smale (BA 2004 MA 2006) secures international book deal

15 February 2013

Geek Girl by Holly Smale (BA 2004 MA 2006)
Holly Smale (BA 2004, MA 2006) secured an international contract for her book series “Geek Girl”. HarperCollins will publish three books throughout the next few years, which has already been sold in eight different languages. The book series is a major achievement for a debut author in an increasingly cautious publishing environment.

Aimed at teenagers, Geek Girl is about a fifteen year old geek, Harriet Manners, who becomes a model. Harriet 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 book has already received outstanding reviews and has been described by The bookseller as "a smart, sassy and very funny debut." The book is due for release on 28 th February, but you can pre-order it on Amazon and at other major bookstores.