Queenswood English Department was honoured to welcome thebest-selling author of teen fiction, Holly Smale, to speak to Year 7 students
about her experiences and influences, on Monday 5 October.

The event was organised by the novelist Freya North as part of the Hertford Children’s Book Festival.

Holly’s Geek Girl series
of novels centres around Harriet Manners, a nerdy 15-year-old girl who tries out modelling to ‘reinvent
herself’. She has won many awards,
including the 2014 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.
In 2013, her first book was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. The
first four books in the series have been translated into many languages, and
have racked up massive sales worldwide.

Holly relived the
deep sense of joy and comfort she found in literature as a young child. She
went on to recount her experiences of bullying at secondary school, and her
unexpected but life-changing entry into the world of modelling aged 15.

The girls enjoyed
the opportunity to ask questions about Holly’s life and work, and the queues
for the book-signing table after the talk were a clear indication of her
popularity.