Geek Chic

The Zoey Zone Bk. 1:
Geek Chic
by Margie Palatini

GEEK CHIC by

Category:

Contemporary

Age Recommendation:

Grades 6+

Release Date: 9/23/08

Publisher: Katherine Tegen

Reviewed by:

Rating:

5 Stars

Eleven-year-old (Okay, more like ten and seven-eighths) Zoey Zinevich has figured out exactly what she needs

before sixth grade starts in 198 days: a fairy godmother!

A good FG could fix up her hair, help her accessorize and make her “chic” (which can be used as both a noun and

an adjective). Maybe with that kind of outside help, she and her friend, Venus, could eat lunch at The Table Bashley

(ruled by Brittany and Ashley) instead of being banished to Table Ten, where Alex Shemtob inhales his food and

exhales it again. Woe to those not wearing an art smock.

A surprise photo shoot at Harry S. Truman School by

U GrL

magazine brings Zoey’s interests in presidents and

molto retro clothing (molto means “very” in Italian, and retro means Zoey’s grandpop’s bowling shirt and fedora) to

the spotlight. The creative director, a chic Lady in Black named Jazz, seems especially taken with Zoey’s hat.

Could Jazz be the FG Zoey’s been waiting for, or will she be stuck at Table Ten with bad hair forever?

Told in an almost multi-media format, using TV scripts and stills from “ZTube” videos produced by Zoey herself, this

story will appeal to younger female fans of books like DIARY OF A WIMPY KID and MIDDLE SCHOOL IS

WORSE THAN MEATLOAF.

The ending may be a bit unrealistic, but I’m anxious to see if this might lead to more Zoey stories in the future.