Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd Review

 Another great book by one of my favorite authors, Lyla Lee!

Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd follows Gigi, a preteen girl who loves art and wants to work in some sort of artistic field. She finds out through her art teacher about a summer art program that will feature one of her favorite artists, Christiania Moon, but it costs a lot of money. Gigi knows her parents will probably not want to pay for it, as they want her to study something more "practical", aka something not art-related. 

Luckily, Gigi finds a way to earn money. After helping her younger brother Tommy with his math homework, Gigi decides to form a tutoring club called the Ace Squad with her best friends, Carolina and Zeina. A fourth girl named Emma eventually joins them. Their tutoring sessions at the library aren't always smooth, but by tutoring elementary school students, they know they will eventually get enough money to all go to the expensive art camp!

This was such a fun book! I love the way Lyla Lee writes--she makes her characters so relatable! This book reminded me in a way of The Cupcake Diaries series by Coco Simon. It's also about a group of friends who form a club where they earn money helping people. In their case--baking cupcakes for special events. This Gigi Shin book is also the first of a series. The second book, Gigi Shin Live from Manhattan, will come out in April 2025.

The cast is diverse too! Gigi is Korean-American, Zeina is Arab-American, Carolina is Latina, and Emma is Taiwanese-American.

This book got 5 stars from me!