• Age: 12 to 18
• Grade: 7 to 12

A piercing novel about the unnerving process of growing up, and a girl finding her feet.

Gretchen Meyers doesn't know exactly what went wrong, but life in the eleventh grade is beginning to suck. As if having a semi-nudist, food-obsessed family wasn't awkward enough, she has lost her best friend to the fanatical school swim team, and her chemistry grade is so close to negative digits that only emergency tutoring can save it. So far, so high school. Then James/Dean rolls into her life - also known as her zit-faced chemistry tutor James and his slightly less zit-faced cousin Dean. Kind-hearted rebels without a cause, they draw Gretchen out of classroom hell, and briefly the world seems full of possibility.

But everything changes over the course of one awful night.

Bewildered by harsh new emotions of grief and love, Gretchen realizes she must now decide who she wants to be and what it means to be loyal. Written partly in verse, as self-confessed poetry geek Gretchen finds new ways of expressing herself, The Opposite of Geek is a tale of haiku, high school, and heartache. Rich with humour, it explores all the anguished details of teenage life through the words of one girl who is finding her way.

Ria Voros is the author of middle grade and young adult novels that have been recognized by the White Pine Award, the Rocky Mountain Book Award and Best Books for Kids and Teens. She has an MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia.When she's not writing, teaching or baking sweet things, Ria can be found hiking to the tops of mountains with her family and two dogs. She believes in recycling, self-care and hot summer mornings. She lives on W̱SÁNÉC Traditional Territory in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Ria Voros' profile page

• Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre

Praise for The Opposite of Geek:

"A realistic narrative about the hardships of navigating through different friendships and cliques during the high school years." -CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"A survivor's story without the heroics or refined sugar of happy endings." -CanLit for Little Canadians

"The inclusion of haikus . . . inject playfulness and might convince young readers that not all poetry has to rhyme or be heavy and boring." -Quill & Quire

Praise for Nobody's Dog:

"Add the name Ria Voros to your list [of new authors to look out for]. I'm so excited to discover this author and to see what else she's going to come up with." -CBC British Columbia

"[A] powerful debut novel." -Nanaimo Daily News