Meet Simon Binkle, annoying geek and one of Amanda's best friends

Simon Binkle is a geek. He’s tall and thin with unruly dark hair, including a cowlick he’s always trying to pat down. When he learns that a detective is supposed to cultivate a mystique, he takes to wearing a fedora and sometimes a red sweater vest and/or a tweed jacket. He has light blue eyes and wears thick coke-bottle glasses.

Simon can be a bit dense and gauche socially, but he’s loyal and honest and becomes one of Amanda’s best friends. He’s a science nerd, but he’s also adventurous, creative, and brave. He’s also a lot more astute about what’s going on with the other kids than he lets on. He loves Ivy Halpin’s dog, Nigel, and is always trying to make special devices for him. In fact, he’s always inventing something. He comes from a family of extremely smart scientists.

Simon first appears in Book 1 of the Amanda Lester series, Amanda Lester and the Pink Sugar Conspiracy.