Rainbow Rowell at Comic Con

This was cute, if a little silly. If you’re a fan of Rainbow Rowell — specifically Fangirl — you should give it a shot.

Ana and Zak are both very smart, and unhappy at home. Ana’s parents are incredibly strict, and she’s terrified of them since they sent her sister away after catching her sneaking out one night (there’s more to it than that, but you’ll see). Zak’s father died a few years ago, and he resents his stepfather’s attempts to bond with him. These two go to school together, but never really interact — Zak thinks Ana’s a bit of an ice queen, and she thinks he’s a doofus (yeah, it’s that kind of book — but cute! I swear!).

They’re thrown together one weekend when their Quiz Bowl team goes to Seattle for a meet. There’s a big event nearby called Washingcon (basically Comic Con) and Zak goes every year — until this year, when he got forced onto the team. Zak is telling Ana’s little brother about the event — all the cool and weird stuff that goes on there. The little brother sneaks out of the hotel, and Ana and Zak have to go find him and get him back.

Most of the book is them running around Washingcon and slowly changing their opinions of each other. The author obviously has great love for geek culture, and it shows warmly in the book. Lots of interesting characters, lots of nerdy references. Really a fun little read.