Geek Girl

Story

Harriet feels like a polar bear who finds itself in the middle of a rainforest. She is a clumsy, awkward, geeky teenager, who has been bullied at school for years. When she is unexpectedly spotted by a top model agency she thinks it could be the chance to reinvent herself.

Why we chose it

A story for geek girls everywhere, full of humour but addressing the real horrors of being bullied for being different.

Holly Smale was photographed as the White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for our 26 Character exhibition. The photograph can be seen in the 26 Characters gallery in the museum.

Where it came from

Holly Smale says she was a shy and geeky girl who spend most of her school years hiding in the changing room toilets. When she was 15 she was spotted by a top modelling agency and worked as a model for a number of years. Geek Girl is based on her experiences as a teenager and as a model.

Where it went next

Geek Girl was the teen and young adult winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and of the Leeds Book Award and was shortlisted for a number of other prizes. It was the best-selling young adult novel of 2013 and became the first in a series of books about Harriet Manners – Model Misfit, Picture Perfect, All that Glitters, Head over Heels and Forever Geek.

Associated stories

Holly Smale has written another series, this time set in the world of acting. The Valentines books are Happy Girl Lucky and Far From Perfect with the third in the series due to be published in 2021.

In the museum

Find Holly Smale dressed as the White Witch in the 26 characters photographs on the wall outside the Woodshed.