One girl’s search to find her father, using the internet, some boys and quite a lot of hairspray from debut YA novelist Ellie Phillips.

Sadie Nathanson spends her life trying to survive the excruciating embarrassment of simply existing. It’s hard enough being a bit of a shrinking violet within a loud and outspoken extended family, but the unexpected card from ‘Dad’ on her 15th birthday is the last straw. As ‘Dad’ was an Internet sperm-donor, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that this is a bad joke, probably set up by her ex-best-friend Shonna. But it starts Sadie wondering – just who was her father? Is he the cause of her worry crinkle and wonky bum? What would happen if she tracked him down? So she decides to do just that.

With help from her nerd cousin Billy, his friend Nodding Tony and a regular dose of ‘Haironomics’ (Sadie’s own hairstyle-related philosophy system), they uncover a lot more than they bargain for …

A story with wit, warmth and knicker-wetting embarrassment, Ellie Phillips is a vibrant new voice in teen fiction. Dad’s, Geeks and Blue Haired Freaks is one of the most original books for young adults you’ll ever read – perfect for girls moving on from Louise Rennison and Cathy Cassidy.

Ellie Phillips is a children's writer.  Her first novel, Dad's Geeks and Blue-Haired Freaks was published by Egmont in 2012 and the follow-up, Scissors, Sisters and Manic Panics followed a year later.

Her childhood home was a flat above her parents' bookstore and she spent a lot of time sitting under the shop counter reading the stock and wishing there were more novels like Forever by Judy Blume out there.