'Fans of Geek Girl will love this!' - Top of the Pops magazine
A hilariously funny and deliciously romantic 'clean teen' book for teens. Perfect for fans of Geek Girl and Girl Online.
Everybody wants to be a famous It Girl. Don't they?
Anna Huntley's aims in life:
1) To recreate famous film scenes with Dog (pet Labrador) such as the lift from The Lion King during that Circle of Life song.
2) To not accidentally set Deputy Queen Bee, Josie Graham's, hair on fire. Again.
3) To keep first and only school friends by not doing anything in usual manner of socially inept dork and outcast.
4) To work out whether 1) and 2) constitute being socially inept - or outcastish.
5) To hide in the cupboard FOR LIFE after her dad gets engaged to one of the most famous actresses EVER, the paparazzi move in and everyone in school (The World) is on the brink of discovering why no one wants to be friends with Anna . . .
A fantastic, laugh-out-loud read for girls aged 11+ who love Louise Rennison and Zoella.
Katy Birchall is the author of the side-splittingly funny The It Girl: Superstar Geek, The It Girl: Team Awkward and its eagerly-awaited sequel The It Girl: Don't Tell the Bridesmaid. Katy won the 24/7 Theatre Festival Award for Most Promising new Comedy Writer with her very serious play about a ninja monkey at a dinner party. Her pet Labradors are the loves of her life, she is mildly obsessed with Jane Austen and one day she hopes to wake up as an elf in The Lord of the Rings. Katy lives in Brixton, London.
I’ve had The IT Girl sitting on my Kindle for a little while, but after hearing good things from Katey on Twitter, I decided to give it a read straight away, as she enjoyed it so much! The IT Girl is actually quite similar to Holly Smale’s fantastic Geek Girl series – both feature heroines who are a little bit clumsier than the the norm (with Anna setting a girl’s hair on fire on the first page which made me laugh like a drain) and both end up in the celebrity world, although in Anna’s case it’s because her dad’s gone and gotten engaged to a famous actress!
The IT Girl was a barrel of laughs from the beginning; Anna is such a warm and funny lead character, so sweet and clumsy and a bit naive, a bit like I was at that age; desperate to be popular but not quite able to manage it, until her dad’s engagement obviously. Again, the way Anna tries to re-invent herself reminded me a bit of All That Glitters, the most recent Geek Girl book, and it always pains me a teensy bit when someone feels wrong as themselves and decides to re-invent themselves because Anna was amazing, even if she was a bit too obsessed with her dog, Dog, and likes Marvel comics. GOOD FOR HER. I adored her for her clumsiness and love of her dog and the comics. All of it, actually, it’s what made Anna, Anna.
The book was a younger read than I would usually go for, but it was so much fun. It was so nice to be reminded how awkward it is to be fourteen (SO awkward). I loved how the book dealt with Anna’s dad’s engagement. Instead of a wicked step-mother/step-sister fare, it was nice to see Anna get on with both Helena and Marianne, it was a real plus because I expected typical teenage angst. (Phew!)
The supporting cast were amazing. Connor – I loved him! Jess and Danny, Anna’s best friends were so, so cool and I just LOVED that Jess knew Anna so well that she knew when she would be doing celebratory dances, and wondering about moving to Bora Bora, etc; that’s always a good marker of just how much of a best friend someone is and they were just so hilarious together. I loved their little note exchanges in classes. They made me LOL.
The IT Girl was so much fun, it was so nice to read something a little bit lighter and so, so much funnier than the more serious books I’ve read recently. This was the perfect pick me up and I am beyond excited that there’s a second IT Girl book in the pipeline! More from Anna, Dog, Jess, Connor and co? YES PLEASE. Katy Birchall is a delightful storyteller, and this novel is perfect for fans of Geek Girl.
