The It Girl: Superstar Geek: 1

Anna is a nice girl. She has a good heart and wants to be liked, but she falls victim to the cruel accidents of life such us willing misunderstanding by some of her unpleasant peers, and her goofish clumsiness which makes her even more endearing to us, the reader. Anna is a wonderful heroine because we relate to her. As the story unfolds, we reluctantly admit that she is us. With all of her awkwardness, clumsiness and inability to be cool, she is us. We would never say it out loud and we would never say it to anyone else, but she is us. By the end of the book, we don't mind admitting it. In fact, we want to tell everyone because we have grown to love Anna so much, we are no longer embarrassed by our so called short comings, we embrace them and gladly shout to the world, we are just like Anna and we are just like everyone else. We're not perfect and we never will be. So what! We're not cool or dynamic. So what! We have good hearts, good friends, and we know what's important in life. Let the plastic people be cool, we'd rather be real any day. Dog is a star and when Anna attempts to hold her pet up in the air like a scene from The Lion King, I laughed out loud. Something I did many many times throughout this book. It is hilarious in a good,clean, fun way. That is incredibly hard to do for a writer, but Katy Birchall skilfully sets up each joke without telegraphing the punch line. I was so impressed with the way that Katy's jokes flew off of the page. They hit the bullseye every time but still retained a wonderful innocence, so much so, that it was hard to believe something so nice could be so funny. That is a combination of a great writer knowing her craft inside out and beautifully written characters that draw you in, and refuse to let go. The three dimensional nature of each person that pops up in this book is a testament to a writer who cares enough to make us care. It would have been easy to fall back on cliche, but Katy doesn't do that, she adds a bit of magic to each character and even if they only appear briefly, they stay with us forever. I was so disappointed to finish this book because I wanted the story to go on and on. It's too good to stop. Fortunately, there are two more books are coming. Ohhhhh, I can't wait.

The It Girl by 20-something Katy Birchall is laugh-out-loud funny, especially in the early chapters. The story is a rites of passage drama about Anna Huntley, who has just moved to London, and is having to cope settling into a new school at about the same time as her Dad introduces her to his fiancée, a super famous actress. As a consequence Anna has to cope with the paparazzi as well as the chaos created by her own actions. The traumas that the main character has to face are the sort I imagine that most 14-year-olds face. Most of the people in the book are really very nice, even the shallowest of the characters – so it is a deliciously irony that Anna is the one who actually behaves the worst. But she is also very loveable. There may be a lot to learn from this book (not least the way time spent in hoover cupboards heal all emotional and psychological wounds, as does having a dog) but it’s the story telling that is so compelling, assisted beautifully with lists and emails. Definitely pick this book for the birthdays of your kids, their friends and godchildren (or ‘odchildren if you’re not religious) – especially if they have to find a date for the prom!

Good read

Brilliant first book from Katy Birchall! Really assured writing, full of humour. The main character Anna is hilarious, an endearing mix of witty intelligence and total cluelessness. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with her dog (named 'Dog'... love it). Relationships are well played, and characters feel real, not 2D. Highly recommend for anyone negotiating the daily mortifications of life as a teenager. Mkes you laugh practically every other page, which is hard to do. Get it, you won't regret it.

This book definitely deserves five stars it is SO hilarious! It is also real like the things that people say in the book is what would actually happen in real life. Plus it is not a really predictable and cheesy and I think it has a GREAT ending! It really encouraged me to be myself. I can't wait to read the next one!!!!!

A great, punchy and well-written book, penned by a talented journalist and author. Katy tackles some really important teenage themes with warmth, alacrity and empathy. We can all learn from Anna's experiences and I, for one, wish I'd been able to read this book when I was an awkward and less than confident teenager.

Bought for my teenage daughter, she absolutely loved it and we bought part 2 of the book soon after. The content is ok for a 15 year old but not sure if suitable for any younger tweens.

I really enjoyed this book- it made me laugh and is relatable (well, apart from the fact that I'm not famous and my dog doesn't hide my shoes in the dishwasher...). I will definitely be buying the next one :)

I’m 75 and really enjoyed these IT Girl stories. I had read one of her regular novels and very much enjoyed it, so decided to try these. They made me giggle several times and reminded me of my own struggles.

I absolutely adore Katy Birchalls sense of humor - weird, very ironic Bit with lost of warmth too. I also love the fact, that this a quite ungirly girl heroine. A little minus from my side that there hat to be this "good" old Heroine-goes-down-the-wrong-path-hurts-her-friend-makes-amends-and-all-is-right-with-the-world-again-thing that you find soooooo regularly especially in US-movies, series and books. And that feels quite forced here. But besides this a clear recommendation for some hours of fun and delight!

Sehr unterhaltsame Lektüre für Teenager.

I love this book. It uses lots of vocabulary words and is a great useful tool through Highschool. Thank you!!