Author of the Month Holly Beck is a mother, retired teacher, accomplished artist, and now a published author. Holly's first book, Revenge of the Dorkoids: The Secret Club Begins, is scheduled for a Fall 2010 release.

Holly started writing Revenge of the Dorkoids about two years ago with the core idea that just because you're smart, doesn't mean you have to lie down and take it when a bully targets you.

In Revenge of the Dorkoids, Holly introduces us to her protagonists, Aaron, Ryan, and Trevor, three best friends who are navigating the difficult journey through middle school together. The three friends are gifted students, but that doesn't always help in a school culture that values athletics over academics and cool over clever. As the class "brains," the boys are often picked on by Jake and his friends, the stars of the school soccer team, and ostracized by those who want to avoid the same fate.

To help her main characters triumph over their social challenges, Holly borrowed a "secret weapon" from her own life. When her children were young, Holly's family created a game of challenging each other to learn new words and incorporating them into their daily conversation. In Holly's book, Aaron's family embraces a similar game, and it is this vocabulary building skill that ultimately helps Aaron and his friends triumph over the school bullies. The name Jake uses to torment the boys, Dorkoids, doesn't mean what he thinks it means, and ultimately the joke is on him. Jake is the one who suffers public embarrassment, not Aaron and his friends. And readers will cheer as intelligence ends up winning the day in more ways than one!

It was in Holly's role as a teacher that she witnessed first-hand the negative impact that bullying can have on a child. One of her goals with this book, the first in a series, was to encourage children to embrace their creativity and individuality. Revenge of the Dorkoids empowers children to use their intellectual talents to solve social problems, and to realize that bullies don't always win.  It's a theme that hits home with school children and gives hope that social underdogs can win.

A graduate of Brigham Young University, Holly currently lives in Billings, Montana. She and her husband Verl have two grown daughters. In addition to writing, Holly loves expressing herself through art. Her water colors and pastels have been sold through galleries in Saugatuck, MI and New Orleans. Holly is an active member of the Mormon Church and believes her values played an important role in creating an uplifting book that inspires kids to achieve their personal best.

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