Geek High

Geek High #1

by Piper Banks

At this school, everyone's a geek. And Miranda Bloom still can't fit in... Miranda is a math genius with divorced parents, an evil stepmother, and no boyfriend in sight. She can't even fit in with the other geeks at the Nottingham Independent School for high-IQ students, because they actually have useful talents. Miranda, on the other hand, is known as "The Human Calculator," which doesn't amount to much when people have, you know, their own calculators. Then Miranda gets stuck planning the school's Snowflake Gala. And as she struggles to find a date and drum up some school spirit at Nottingham-aka "Geek High"-she finds that who you are means more than where you fit in.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, High School, Chick Lit, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

256 pages, ebook

First published November 6, 2007

About the author

Growing up, Whitney Gaskell always wanted to become a writer. Then for some unkown reason, she went to law school. Whitney then decided to write under a pen name, Piper Banks, but also is now known as Whitney Gaskell.

OFFICIAL AUTHOR SITE

Reviews

[Wendy Darling · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars Super cute--the perfect thing when you want a quick, entertaining read that isn't going to tax your brain too much, but also won't leave you frustrated with its vapidity. I really liked how smart and honest and funny Miranda's voice was, and the way she owns her geekery and her differences with more popular kids.

[Hafshie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I don't know how I do it. I just do. When someone asks, 'What's 52,652 x 95,737?' I just know that the answer is 5,040, 744, 524, the same way some people are musical, or good at languages, or know how to wear a scarf without looking stupid."

Miranda Bloom is not just your typical nerd who loves studying. She's also gifted with an extraordinary math skills. But is being a math geek enough to fit in at Geek High? Unfortunately not, for Miranda. So she quitted math club and planned to try other extracurricular activities. But through a series of unfortunate events, she got trapped in planning the boring Snowflake event. Now that Miranda is in charge of the event, will it be just the same as the usual boring Snowflake? Or will it be a lot different?

And Snowflake is not the only problem of Miranda. Through another series of unfortunate events, Miranda was blackmailed by their school's headmaster to get back to Mu Alpha Theta, aka the math club. So, what will she do now?

School life is not the only messed up things in Miranda's life. Another series of unfortunate events put Miranda in the care of her father and Stepmother and stepsister, aka the Devil and her Devil Spawn. How will she handle everything?

With these collection series of unfortunate events, will Miranda be able to find her peace of mind and worth?

The story is just like your typical teenager novel. Though, this one is not heavy and deep on romance, which probably might drive you away. However, it still has that sort of secret crushing or obsessing over a really gorgeous guy, who never looks at you the way you want him to. And just when he started talking to you and you got really excited and happy, you found out he's not really after you, but your step sister, whom you've never liked. How's that?
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I like how each chapter of the story went by like a slice of a real life. Where things don't always happen the way you planned it or want it. 'cause that's life. You're never sure of what will happen next. But even though it goes that way, so long as you don't fret much about it, you'll find that things will always turn the way you never see it possible, and it might even be better.

Of course, there were cliche parts that make it more like the typical teenage romance such as the prom-like Snowflake event. Wherein, you are expected to bring a date, which may seem a big deal for a nerd like Miranda. And also you need to find a pretty dress and a nice hair and make-up that will transform you from an ugly duckling to a pretty swan.

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Yeah, those parts you always see in typical teenager romantic movies. Like always!.

And the ending where the dancing starts that eventually led to the kissing scene. Only this time, the kiss happened first before the dance part. And Miranda doesn't really have a date. How and why? Read it! :D
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But it was a nice read. Light, smooth, and cute. NO big dramas. And Miranda narrates the story interestingly funny.

[Christy Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want wholesome reading or some shit.

Gross.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miranda Bloom’s world has been turned upside down. Her mother, a famous romance author, has decided to move to England in order to research her next book, but isn’t planning on taking Miranda. Instead she has to move into her father’s house and live with her step-mother, Peyton, and her step-sister Hannah - neither of which want her around EVER.

Miranda attends Notting Hill Independent School for Gifted Children a.k.a Geek High. She is the most gifted math student at school and is known as The Human Calculator - which she hates because being a Human Calculator is pretty useless since everyone has regular calculators.

Miranda isn’t popular at Geek High. She has two loyal friends, Charlie and Finn. Charlie is a very talented artist and Finn is brilliant with computers. In fact, to shake things up this year, Finn has created a tell-all website at geekhigh.com. When word gets around about the website and a story is posted about the queen bee of the school the principal accuses Miranda of being the creator of the website. She assures the principal she doesn’t have anything to do with it, but refuses to reveal the author. For punishment she is forced to plan the Snowflake Gala - an event that isn’t very popular with the students.

On top of dealing with living in a house where she is considered a guest and being forced to plan the Snowflake she has to deal with the guy she’s been crushing on for two years fall for Hannah. Her principal also blackmails her into joining the competitive math team again even though she wants to be on the high school’s literary magazine instead.

Throughout all the stress of the semester, Miranda manages to learn a lot about herself while at the same time pulling off a wonderful Snowflake Gala. Her relationship with her father drastically improves and she and Hannah even form some kind of bond. Even though the story is a bit predictable, Miranda is an enjoyable character that you’ll want to see win in the end. You’ll be happy to know that GEEK ABROAD, the sequel will be available May of 2008.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had picked this book up on a whim based on the saying on the front cover, "You say nerd like its a bad thing."
To me that saying was funny and held promise of a book full of humor.
So I bought the book, and was not dissapointed.
Following Miranda Bloom through a semester at 'Geek High' as she plans the
The flow was very well written.. the story was pretty good... I only meant to just START reading the book the day I bought it.. I ended up finishing it that night...
Miranda Bloom's life consists of a laid-back mother, an absentee father who just married a demon (more on that later) with a demon spwan (her daughter), two pretty sane friends, a dog who loves her dearly, and no boyfriend (which she hopes will changein the near future). She isn't the prettiest, or the ugliest, and she doesn't have a major talent. She can do an equation before you can say calculator, but that isn't really a talent since she can easily be replaced by a calculator.
I really like the guy Dex, but Miranda seems a bit over dramatic and stero-typical at times. Such as, the geek-trying-to-get-the-guy girl. But I still enjoyed it. You can even pick up on the connection between Finn and Charlie.

[Samge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light bubbly book, the kind of book you read on a boring sunday to brighten up your day, but nothing that you haven’t read before. 3.5 stars because i finished it in one day.

[Rosie]

On e of my favorite characters in the Geek High is the main character Miranda Bloom, having to live with her father, stepmother and stepsister unwillingly she still kept her head high. If I were to recommend this book to some I would recommend it to someone who was having a hard time in high school. While reading this book a character that I stumbled upon that was my least favorite was Hannah. Hannah is Miranda’s step sister who tortures her. Hannah makes Miranda feel like she is nothing and that she is a nerd that goes to Geek High and she isn’t important to her. What kept me reading this book was every time I closed it I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Something always happened that makes you not want to stop reading. I wasn’t able t predict the ending, but it depends on what you think is going to happen and from there you will know. The emotions I felt when reading Geek High was some points happy and some mad. I felt mad when Miranda’s stepmother, father, and stepsister say rude comments to make her feel like she is wanted .I think the author’s intention was to show you that you don’t need to change for others. The portion of that book that captured my attention was in the begging when Miranda was called to the office for the situation with her and felicity. While this was going it captured my attention, because even though Miranda had nothing to do with it. If I were to make this book in to a movie I would use some of the cast from Degrassi, these character resemble the characters in Geek High. One of my favorite lines from the book is Oh no no no no no no no! But, I realized, my stomach sinking, there wasn’t a chance that Emmett would ever look at Hannah and me standing side by side and chose me…Well, Okay, one discussion, but still. Surely no one had ever told Hannah she needed plastic surgery. I like me this line, because it makes it seems like Emmett is a jerk for liking Hannah when Hannah seems like a very stuck up person.

[Nelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars.

KIND OF a retelling of Cinderella's story, I mean it has some loosely elements like the mean and shallow stepmother and stepsister, the big house/palace and the handsome guy/prince, and at the beginning makes you believe (at least I know I did) this might be a retelling of the fairy-tale, but don't, just stop your hopes right there, 'cause it isn't.

This book turn out to be very predictable making emphasis in very, and I know what I was into when I start reading this (Look at the cover, and read the synopsis) , but I was hoping to find out some real good twists trough the book, but again I was wrong.

And finally the cliches... OMG the cliches! specially at the end.

IDK I guess this book was too peace-and-love for me.

The 2 stars were bcs of the humor. I found some fun moments trough the book, with Miranda's sarcasm and some of the fights between her friends that turn out to be hilarious but that's it.

I won't be reading next book in a near future.

[Kelly Oram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one, but it surprised me. I thought this was going to be really heavy on the romance. I was excited for one of those nerdy-girl-wins-the-popular-guy stories. It was that, sort of. But the main character only had like 3 scenes with the main love interest in the whole book. Not near enough to satisfy me or make me really understand why they like each other. I mean I could see it, and they had great chemistry, but I felt they had zero time for anything to develop because the never saw each other.

Aside from that, which with my totally-cheesy-sappy-over-the-top-romance taste should have been a fatal flaw--I still really enjoyed this book. I loved the main character and I loved her relationship with her family. The secondary characters in this were a lot more developed than the main love interest. In fact, I felt like I knew almost everyone in the book better than him. I guess what I'm saying is that there was much more to this plot than just nerd-girl-gets-the-popular-boy. It worked for me.

[Zaira Narvaez · Rating 4 out of 5]

—Voy a cerrar mis ojos y contar hasta diez —me dijo Charlie—. Y si el sigue aquí cuando termine, lo voy a matar. —Cerró sus ojos—. Uno…dos…tres…
—¿Ella en verdad cree que me asusta? —pregunto Finn
—Cuatro…Cinco…
—Porque definitivamente no lo estoy—dijo.
—Seis…Siete…
—Ni siquiera un poquito—continuo. Aunque me di cuenta que el se movió hacia el borde de su asiento.
—Ocho…nueve…
—Nos vemos, pajaritos—dijo Finn, volando apurándose por salir de la cafetería…

¿Explica esto porque me gusto el libro?
Yo se que Charlie y Finn como que se aman demasiadoo, solo espero y en la segunda parte estén juntos,
Yo como que enserio necesito una amiga matemática como Miranda, seria como muy perfecto, y este chico Dex ¡ugh! estoy segura que es muy caliente, pero no se si Miranda sea el tipo de chica para el, después de todo se la pasa diciendo que no es muy agraciada y todo eso, pero bueno, el libro fue entretenido, el algunas partes algo como que cansado.
Fue una lectura cómoda.

[Anna Karras · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. There were a lot of neat things in it. Miranda is a math genius who goes to a gifted high school (nicknamed Geek High) and she has good friends. But so many terrible things happen to Miranda in this book, I had a hard time sticking with it. Her mother abandons her to move to England, leaving her with her father and truly evil stepmother, and devil stepsister. And then the popular girls (even at a geek high) torment her, she trips and falls in front of her crush, and she is blackmailed by her principal. If I were Miranda, I'd seriously think of weighting my pockets with stones and taking a stroll into the ocean.

Things do get better, however, and she even meets a cute guy and saves the day with the Snowflake Gala. But there was just too much adversity - even so, I plan to read the sequel - Geek Abroad.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, so I saw this book in Barnes & Noble about a year ago and decided that I just HAD to read it. The back cover description introduced a plot not overused in the chick-lit genre! Naturally when I received a kindle and money for my birthday I bought and read this book. Let's just say that Geek High did not live up to my expectations. The plot was the basic looser becomes semi-popular and gets the super sweet guy. The only truly unique aspect of this book was that the protagonist went to a school for gifted students. This means that technically the kids who attended were all geeks if sent to regular school. Read it if you want to, but it would not be on the top of my to read shelf. 2.5 stars.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miranda is smart and incredibly gifted in maths. Too bad she doesn't like it that much. Her life changes when her mother moves to London and leaves her with her father, evil stepmother & stepsister. And then the principal of her school (Geek High) ropes her into organizing the Snowflake dance. Good thing she doesn't scare easy.

It was a decent read, but nothing impressive. Miranda was OK, but again I didn't like her that much. But her friend Finn was great and Dex was yummy.

I will be reading the rest of the books in the series, if I can track them down. Hope they are better.

Loved the math formulas on the beginning of the chapters. :-)

Rating:

3.5 stars.

[Rahmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Miranda Bloom, si manusia kalkulator. Meskipun dia termasuk ke dalam golongan geek, tapi dia bisa stand up dan ga pathetic tentang sifat geek nya itu. Selin itu meskipun dapat tekanan dari kepala sekolah Hughes dan si ibu tiri Peyton, Miranda tetep bisa beresin semua masalahnya. Salut. Miranda is one of the best geek heroine I've read. Cuma sayangnya kurang diceritain tentang Dex. Entah nanti bakal dijelasin karakternya di buku kedua atau memang sengaja karakternya dibuat misterius.
Secara keseluruhan dari buku ini bisa ditarik kesimpulan kalau geek itu keren. Geek itu ga payah dan bahkan banyak geek yang punya keunikan sendiri.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading this book at the beginning. Miranda's mother basically dumped her on the stoop of her father/step-mother's house, the step-mother was mean, snobby and cold to her, her father distant, her step-sister same as the mother, people at school seemed to use her talents for their own gain and basically used Miranda as a doormat. But once I got into the story I got caught up in Miranda's personality and her up-beat outlook on life, her supportive friends and the eventual melting of those hostile personalities around her. This ended up being a great read!

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a light read that definitely did not lack in charm or humor! I actually laughed out loud while reading some parts (: Overall, this book leaves you with a feel-good vibe that will make you want to read the other books in the series ASAP.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5/5 stars)
Here’s how uncool Miranda Bloom is: her high school is called Geek High and her nickname is the Human Calculator. Miranda is determined that her sophomore year will be different: this is the year that she’ll break free from her identity as a math nerd, the year that her perfect crush, Emmett Dutch, will finally notice her. It turns out she gets off to a rocky start: she’s forced to live with the father she hasn’t spoken to in three years and her evil stepmother and stepsister while her mother is out of the country. On top of that, she finds herself in charge of organizing the school dance. Oh, and Emmett has taken an interest in her stepsister. How will she ever survive?

Pros:
•this is a fun, easy read. Miranda is a likable character who’s easy to root for. The whole book is generally uplifting and goes by quickly

Cons:
•a lot of the characters are too cartoonish for me. Why do Miranda and her friends have literal enemies in Felicity and Morgan? How could Peyton possibly be so evil and still loved by Miranda’s father, who is clearly a nice man? How can ALL of Hannah’s friends have no interest besides fashion and being mean to people? Are people really like this?
•While the pacing of the book made it easy to read, I wish the plots had more time to build. Miranda barely knows Dex at all- why do they like each other? I also wish that we could have seen her relationships with Hannah and her dad evolve more gradually too

Recommendation: I recommend if you’re looking for an easy, uplifting YA book. This is a quick fun read with likable characters. Avoid if you don’t want something cliche!

[Stéphanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

I must say that i had high hopes for this one. It sounded like a really good story. It had too much cliches and stereotypes about students (geeks vs popular squad). And some things were just wrong like the character of the headmaster. How could a headmaster could be like that, [little spoiler] kind of blackmailing students. I was so angry when i read that part. I wish it would be more developed and less cliche. But some parts were funny and i laugh a couple of times during my reading. It’s not completely bad, just some things i can’t bare. It was a little too much and not what I was expecting.

[Zaskya Benítez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Es un 2,5 a decir verdad. Mi problema con este libro es que no lo leí cuando me llamo la atención, sin dudas a la Zaskya adolescente le habría gustado mucho, por desgracia a la de hoy en día no tanto.

[Wawa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't looking for a heavy read. This fell into that category well. The story was simple and easy to follow.

[verygood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so cute. I really enjoyed reading it and most of the characters were likable.

[Sakae Codogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want the other books!

[Ailed Rguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿Soy la única que espera que pase algo entre Charlie y Finn?

[Summayyah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a very nice book

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book in the library when I was 13 and enjoyed it, And now that I've re-read it I don't enjoy the book quite as much.

[genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and lighthearted, if a little dull. It’s set up to explore the relationship dynamics between Miranda and everyone in the sequels, likely not going to continue with the series

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This whole book series was super cute, I remember loving these as a kid! It was an easy read and fun to follow along!

[Mely McKiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was fun but so cliché

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time liking the main character even though she was a fellow geek, and usually I love books like this. I got that sorta in the end, she knows she needs to have more confidence in her self and that jealously is a terrible companion, but I had a hard time caring about all her many and drawn out insecurities. I just felt that is was poorly written in that aspect. I got so much, "I have such a big nose, and too frizzy hair, she's so much prettier than me" that I felt ready to give up on this book I've been waiting weeks for! I mean, I know everyone has insecurities and I'm not saying she was annoying because she had some, I just feel it wasn't written as delicately and smoothly as it should have been.

I just feel that the writing isn't up to par, or maybe not what I expected. I felt that the really boring stuff were described none stop but the important stuff, like a thorough description of the characters using different words (not the same over and over again( I get it, he's tall!) were given a grazing glance.
The writing wasn't very engaging and I felt, at first that the relationship with Dex was kinda insta-love. Like, she met the guy like, what, 3, 4 times and briefly at that and suddenly they're dating and kissing, and she can't stop thinking about him? Didn't buy it at all. And, in this first book, the timing or the pace felt so off! I couldn't even keep track on how much time passed and how long it had been that she had known Dex, and the seasons passed by almost unnoticed. (Just because its Florida, doesn't mean there aren't any cold days: there are some chilly days (especialy in January, etc) because, I know.)

Side note: I don't like the name Miranda for this character. Maybe if she had a nickname, it would have been ok, but I don't think it worked for the written character.

Also, Charlie kinda seemed like a bad friend to me. Especially with the meds thing! That's so not healthy, especially if she has manic depression! And it totally irked me that she got so offensive all the time. Maybe if she stuck to her meds that is supposed to help her, she wouldn't have so many rough lows and crazy highs. It was trying reading about Miranda not being able to say something that didn't really seem all that offensive to me to Charlie because Charlie is soo sensitive.

Of course, these are all my opinions, so maybe you'd absolutely love it. Just that, I came into this read expecting to be blown away with amazing writing and characters and I was left feeling disappointed.