The Rise Of The Dorkosaurus (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Maureen, a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed dork-a-saurus, thinks that her body looks like a baked potato. Allergy-plagued Alice can’t touch a mango without breaking out in a rash, and if she eats wheat, her vision goes blurry. Klutzy to the extreme, Barbara is a beanpole who often embarrasses herself in front of the whole school. These outcasts don't have much in common - other than the fact that they are often targets of the ThreePees: the Pretty, Popular, Perfect girls who rule the school. After an embarrassing video of Maureen winds up on YouTube, she joins forces with Alice and Barbara to take away the one thing the ThreePees can't live without: a victory in the junior high talent show. Will their routine be enough to de-throne the popular crowd? Or will their plan backfire and shake their hold on the bottom rung of the social ladder?I was a bit skeptical of the premise - a battle for first place in a talent show? - but I was pleasantly surprised. The real story is what the girls learn about themselves and their friendships with each other. I initially had a hard time with Maureen's character, she is a bit caustic at first, but she makes some progress by the end. All in all, this was a fun, quick read. Get ready to relive middle school while enjoying a riotous romp with the self-proclaimed Nerd Girls, three teens who don't fit into the middle school social sphere. They're what "The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth" calls cafeteria fringe. Q suffers from allergies that glue her to her inhaler as though it's an extra appendage; Maureen is "shaped like a potato," the result of her convenience store diet of stale cupcakes; and Beanpole is a complete klutz who trips over air (I can relate). Once they join forces, nothing can stop them, and in their quest to win the schools talent show, they they learn some valuable lessons about their families, their teachers, their crushes, and themselves and the power of friendship.Alan does play into stereotypes, but his use of hyperbole, paradoxically, gives the characters a cartoonish feel while also investing them with humanity. The three nerds aren't flat, and I love Maureen's dry wit and sarcastic middle school tone. More importantly, "Nerd Girls" takes on an important school issue with humor: How do students and teachers handle bullying? Sometimes we need some levity in the midst of a crisis, and teens will find themselves draw to "Nerd Girls" for it's humor and compassion.
What do You think about The Rise Of The Dorkosaurus (2011)?
