The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory, and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School - Softcover

Robbins, Alexandra

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140131077X ISBN 13: 9781401310776

Publisher: Hachette Books, 2012

Synopsis

In a smart, entertaining, reassuring book that reads like fiction, Alexandra Robbins manages to cross Gossip Girl with Freaks and Geeks and explain the fascinating psychology and science behind popularity and outcasthood. She reveals that the things that set students apart in high school are the things that help them stand out later in life.

Robbins follows seven real people grappling with the uncertainties of high school social life, including:

• The Loner, who has withdrawn from classmates since they persuaded her to unwittingly join her own hate club
• The Popular Bitch, a cheerleading captain both seduced by and trapped within her clique's perceived prestige
• The Nerd, whose differences cause students to laugh at him and his mother to needle him for not being "normal"
• The New Girl, determined to stay positive as classmates harass her for her mannerisms and target her because of her race
• The Gamer, an underachiever in danger of not graduating, despite his intellect and his yearning to connect with other students
• The Weird Girl, who battles discrimination and gossipy politics in school but leads a joyous life outside of it
• The Band Geek, who is alternately branded too serious and too emo, yet annually runs for class president

In the middle of the year, Robbins surprises her subjects with a secret challenge--experiments that force them to change how classmates see them.

Robbins intertwines these narratives--often triumphant, occasionally heartbreaking, and always captivating--with essays exploring subjects like the secrets of popularity, being excluded doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, why outsiders succeed, how schools make the social scene worse--and how to fix it.

The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth is not just essential reading for students, teachers, parents, and anyone who deals with teenagers, but for all of us, because at some point in our lives we've all been on the outside looking in.

About this title

Review

"Their stories beautifully demonstrate things we know intrinsically: that being popular is not always the same as being liked, that high school is more rigid and conformist than the military, and that the people who are excluded and bullied for their offbeat passions and refusal to conform are often the ones who are embraced and lauded for those very qualities in college and beyond."--New York Times

About the Author

Alexandra Robbins is a former staff member of The New Yorker and the author of two New York Times bestsellers. Her work has appeared in publications including The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Washington Post, USA Today, Cosmopolitan, Mademoiselle, Chicago Tribune, Self, Washington Monthly, Time Digital, Salon, Details, Shape, PC, Tennis Week, and the Journal of Popular Culture. She graduated summa cum laude in 1998 from Yale.

Edition details

• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 140131077X
• ISBN 13: 9781401310776
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 448