Geek Girl’s main character, Jen, heavily reminded me of Jasmine Luther, one of the main characters of the book Define Normal. Goth-looking chic used to give me an impression of a troubled teenager, rebellious and just too hard to handle (at least to me). But I know my judgment was just clouded by this general idea.
But some of them are really, like literally, troubled, and that could have been rooted in a dark and troubled past. That was Jen. Growing up in a foster care system isn’t so easy. Not that I am talking about experience, but by how it was described in the countless books I’ve read. I just can’t imagine myself, going from one family to the next, moving away from them when I am just learning how to love them and start to feel a sense of belongingness. For Jen, it was so hard to trust, and it was far easier to be hard on the families, not allowing herself to be attached to them so as to avoid the pain of its temporariness, making it almost a make-believe.
The entrance of Trevor into her life made quite a big impact though. I should say that it was love, which made her realize the things that she have been missing all her life. With Trevor, she learns to trust again, to open herself up a little, so that she could absorb the overwhelming care and genuine concern of the people around her. Once again, the idea that happiness isn’t something that just happens in our lives and that our choices are very much involved in acquiring happiness is demonstrated in this book.
Real friendships are a gem, as this book says too. A true friend will always be there for you, no matter how different you’ve become as a result of growing apart. Honesty, on the other hand, is something that can always keep us from pain. No matter how harrowing the truth might be, it will always be our consolation to hear it from the right person. And most important of all, we have to go past looks, for most of the time, there is always more than the eye meets.
Geek Girl is an edgy book, yet soft. A kind of literary work that any young adult could relate to, especially those who are having a hard time dealing with the acceptance of a bitter past, something that may cloud their judgment of how people around them treat them and the way they should be treated.