His first book, Thai-riffic!, was published to critical acclaim, followed by Con-nerd, Punchlines, Thai-no-mite, Ethan in the Stuff Happens series, and The Other Christy.
Visit Oliver at his website: oliverwriter.com
Oliver is also a committed ambassador for Room to Read, an innovative global non-profit that seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in ten developing countries through its holistic Literacy and Girls’ Education programs. See more at roomtoread.org
Also by Oliver Phommavanh
It’s one small step for nerds, one giant leap to being cool.
Mama tells me I’m gifted and talented. But I know the truth. I’m just a nerd. Kids call me Con-nerd – half Connor and all nerd.
I’m supposed to become a doctor but I have this deep, dark secret:
I want to be a cartoonist.
And all of a sudden my mega-cool comics are getting noticed at
school – I might even get into a special art class.
That would be sure to impress this girl I’m keen on . . . and it might just be my chance to show the world my true destiny.
But I’m not sure Mama will see it quite that way . . .
I’m Lengy and, yes, I’m Thai.
My parents run a restaurant.
Named? Thai-riffic!
My favourite food? Pizza.
Recipe for Pizza? Call Barilla’s Pizzeria and order. Wait.
Recipe for a normal life? Take one mum and dad and an annoying little brother. Add a new high school, friends and a wacko teacher and stir in some crazy adventures. Mix well.
Stir-fry in a hot wok. Laugh out loud.
Enjoy!
I’m Lengy and I’m Thai. My parents run a restaurant named Thai-riffic! but I’m always craving hot chips and pizza.
Mum and Dad’s idea of a holiday?
Going to Thailand to visit all our relatives.
Recipe for getting there?
• Survive Dr Needlemouse and his arsenal of needles
• Squeeze in a snappy budget trip to Dreamworld
• Catch a red-back spider for my auntie
• Fight off a savage bat attack
• Celebrate Christmas, Thai-riffic style!
Recipe for surviving the planning?
A heap of good luck and plenty of THAI-NO-MITE!
Phew! I’ll need a holiday after this . . .
My name is Christy but nobody calls me that.
I’m in the same class with another girl named Christie, so I’ve become just the other Christy, the spare Christy.
Not the popular, loud one everyone likes.
Just once I’d like to be noticed, and have a real friend.
Someone I can bake treats for and who just gets me . . . and my weird fussy grandpa at home.
Could that person ever really be Christie?
Could I be friends with my enemy?
As long as you can make a girl laugh, she’ll go for you, right?
Well, unless you’re a seriously weird teenager like Johnny Khamka.
Surviving high school is hard enough, but how on earth can he get his childhood bestie, Josie, now a seriously hot teenager, to take him seriously?
The answer is to keep her laughing. But when Johnny decides to take comedy seriously, he’s suddenly at risk of not being funny at all.
Stuff happens sometimes.
Everyday stuff.
At school, at home, with sport, with mates.
For Ethan it happened when he thought his best friend
didn’t like him any more.
Ethan is not just bookish – he’s book-obsessed, possibly the only boy with a mother begging him to put a book down so he can make friends. Ethan doesn’t make friends easily,
so when he makes friends with Trent (they bond over a dinosaur book), Ethan is chuffed and his mum is thrilled.
But then Trent discovers downball and Ethan thinks he’s lost his best friend, his only friend . . .
PUFFIN BOOKS
UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia
India | New Zealand | South Africa | China
Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies
whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2017
Text copyright © Oliver Phommavanh 2017.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Cover design, illustrations and chapter numbers
by Evi Oetomo © Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd
penguin.com.au
ISBN: 978-1-74253-818-1
THE BEGINNING
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Super Con-Nerd Page 12
