Geek Chic

October 15, 2008
Grades 3-5 Zoey, 10, desperately needs a fairy godmother to give her a makeover and teach her aboutstyleif she is ever going to make it into the coolcrowd in the lunchroom. Told with changing type, margin notes, and cartoons, her brisk, hilarious commentary and confessions will draw tweens into the contemporary Cinderella story. Readers will enjoy some of the yucky details: her best friends pet frog is a champion slimer (his slime is more like spit than snot). More thanjust a situation, there is a real story that builds to a surprising climax, asZoey is driven in a limousine (it is an environmentally friendly hybrid) to what she thinks is going to be her ultimate makeover. Then, instead, of becoming a sweet princess in a tiara, she discovers beauty in what the title suggests: Geek Chic. Terms featured in the appended glossary of Zoeys favorite words could become favorites with young readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2009
Fifth grader Zoey prepares for the sixth-grade "Cool Police," but it's tough when your hair sticks out and you love catching bullfrogs. By being herself, though, Zoey gets noticed by a girls' magazine, which likes her the way she is. The story is empowering, but the volume, with its multiple fonts, cartoons, and sketches, is overly designed and hard to follow.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

December 1, 2008
Gr 4-6-This amalgamation of graphic novel and chapter book cleverly integrates wrinkled-looking notes, varied typefaces, wacky line drawings, and movie countdowns with straightforward prose to tell the funny if far-fetched tale of fifth-grader Zoey. Although sixth grade is 198 days away, she's already worried about her place on the "coolability" meter compared with the Bashleys: "Brittany-with-two-Ts and Ashley." An expert on obscure facts about the presidents, Zoey's idea of a good time is to catch bullfrogs and other amphibians with her friend Venus. She's hoping for a fairy godmother to make her cooler but what she finds is her great-grandfather's bowling shirt and fedora, which at least covers her bed-head. She runs into a photo shoot by "U Grl" of the Bashleys and their friends in the school hall. When the magazine's reps ask for something interesting from a locker, Zoey jumps in. Not only is her locker jam-packed with geeky books, art supplies, and other paraphernalia, and the reps are taken with her sense of style as well. "Geek Chic" offers more wish fulfillment than reality for girlsthe staff members all don fedoras like Zoey's. There's nothing new about its message of self-acceptance except that it's aimed at the girls who need to hear it at younger and younger ages. Although slightly confusing in the beginning, the format will attract reluctant readers, and the story will please girls who cultivate offbeat interests with as much enthusiasm and zaniness as Zoey."Tina Zubak, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.