Geekhood: Mission Improbable by Andy Robb - Revision history

Jill at 19:18, 6 April 2018

2018-04-06T19:18:10Z

Sue at 17:21, 23 January 2015

2015-01-23T17:21:21Z

Sue at 11:23, 4 May 2013

2013-05-04T11:23:39Z

Sue at 11:13, 4 May 2013

2013-05-04T11:13:58Z

Sue at 07:14, 4 May 2013

2013-05-04T07:14:50Z

Sue at 07:14, 4 May 2013

2013-05-04T07:14:30Z

Sue: Created page with "{{infobox |title=Geekhood: Mission Improbable |sort=Geekhood: Mission Improbable |author=Andy Robb |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Teens |rating=4.5 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=9..."

2013-05-04T07:10:08Z

Created page with "{{infobox |title=Geekhood: Mission Improbable |sort=Geekhood: Mission Improbable |author=Andy Robb |reviewer=Robert James |genre=Teens |rating=4.5 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=9..."

New review

{{infobox
|title=Geekhood: Mission Improbable
|sort=Geekhood: Mission Improbable
|author=Andy Robb
|reviewer=Robert James
|genre=Teens
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1847153647
|pages=352
|publisher=Stripes Publishing
|date=April 2013
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184715364X</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>184715364X</amazonus>
|website=http://theandyrobbsite.co.uk
|video=LwXdjrcl-JI
|summary=Warm and funny, this is an entertaining story which stands out both due to Robb's great narrative style and the subject matter of roleplaying.
}}
Despite his efforts with Sarah at the start of term, fourteen-year-old Archie is still as geeky and as clueless about girls as ever. Then he meets Clare, a sixteen-year-old who has relationship problems of her own, and they create a fake relationship to try and get their crushes to notice them. What could possibly go wrong?

Archie's voice - split between the main narrative of the book and frequent interjections from his Interior Monologue, which tends to sarcastically put him down, and his Exterior Monologue, is fantastic. The two monologues are the kind of thing that could easily have come across as gimmicky, but in both books, Robb has really nailed them - they fit Archie's character perfectly, and make it a fun, fast paced read.

In addition to the superb voice, Geekhood has a good cast of characters - I particularly like Beggsy, who can carry on entire conversations with the use of the word ''Dude!'', and Archie's relationship with both his parents and their new partners is really realistically handled. (His mum is absolutely adorable, while the other three are all frustrating to varying degrees but clearly care about him a lot.) In addition, Archie and his friends become involved with live action role-playing, which makes this seriously unique; it's rare enough to read about tabletop roleplaying, but Andy Robb makes the idea of LARP sound completely fascinating. While not everyone will be as keen as I was after reading it to try and find some LARP to do, I'm pretty sure that everyone will be able to relate to Archie's romantic problems, and sympathise with him as he struggles with what to do about his fake girlfriend and the girl he actually likes.

There are lots of authors out there at the moment writing wonderful contemporary books about teen boys navigating the perils of growing up - I wish I'd had anywhere near this much of a choice of books to read when I was a teen myself! - and Andy Robb is one of the best of them.

Some of those other excellent authors writing humorous books about teenage boys include Tom Clempson - check out [[One Seriously Messed-Up Week: in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson]] - Don Calame, whose series starting with [[Swim the Fly by Don Calame]] is great, and Jesse Andrews, who wrote the fabulous [[Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews]].

{{amazontext|amazon=184715364X}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9517144}}
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← Older revision		Revision as of 11:23, 4 May 2013
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	{{interviewtext\|author=Andy Robb}}		{{interviewtext\|author=Andy Robb}}
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		+	This review was kindly given to us by the ever-generous [http://yayeahyeah.blogspot.com/ Ya Yeah Yeah]

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-{{infobox
+{{infobox2
 |title=Geekhood: Mission Improbable
 |author=Andy Robb
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 |publisher=Stripes Publishing
 |date=April 2013
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184715364X</amazonuk>
+|aznuk=184715364X
-|amazonus=<amazonus>184715364X</amazonus>
+|aznus=184715364X
 |website=http://theandyrobbsite.co.uk
 |video=LwXdjrcl-JI

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 {{infobox
 |title=Geekhood: Mission Improbable
 |author=Andy Robb
 |reviewer=Robert James
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 Some of those other excellent authors writing humorous books about teenage boys include Tom Clempson - check out [[One Seriously Messed-Up Week: in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson]] - Don Calame, whose series starting with [[Swim the Fly by Don Calame|Swim the Fly]] is great, and Jesse Andrews, who wrote the fabulous [[Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews|Me and Earl and the Dying Girl]].
-{{amazontext|amazon=184715364X}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9517144}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=184715364X}}
 {{interviewtext|author=Andy Robb}}

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 |website=http://theandyrobbsite.co.uk
 |video=LwXdjrcl-JI
-|summary=Warm and funny, this is an entertaining story which stands out both due to Robb's great narrative style and the subject matter of roleplaying.
+|summary=Warm and funny, this is an entertaining story which stands out both due to Robb's great narrative style and the subject matter of roleplaying. Andy Robb popped into Bookbag Towers to [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Andy Robb|chat to us]].
 }}
 Despite his efforts with Sarah at the start of term, fourteen-year-old Archie is still as geeky and as clueless about girls as ever. Then he meets Clare, a sixteen-year-old who has relationship problems of her own, and they create a fake relationship to try and get their crushes to notice them. What could possibly go wrong?
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 {{amazontext|amazon=184715364X}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9517144}}
 {{commenthead}}

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 There are lots of authors out there at the moment writing wonderful contemporary books about teen boys navigating the perils of growing up - I wish I'd had anywhere near this much of a choice of books to read when I was a teen myself! - and Andy Robb is one of the best of them.
-Some of those other excellent authors writing humorous books about teenage boys include Tom Clempson - check out [[One Seriously Messed-Up Week: in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson]] - Don Calame, whose series starting with [[Swim the Fly by Don Calame]] is great, and Jesse Andrews, who wrote the fabulous [[Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews]].
+Some of those other excellent authors writing humorous books about teenage boys include Tom Clempson - check out [[One Seriously Messed-Up Week: in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson]] - Don Calame, whose series starting with [[Swim the Fly by Don Calame|Swim the Fly]] is great, and Jesse Andrews, who wrote the fabulous [[Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews|[Me and Earl and the Dying Girl]].
 {{amazontext|amazon=184715364X}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=9517144}}
 {{commenthead}}