THE QUEEN OF EVERYTHING
Deb Caletti
Simon and Schuster
Fiction
ISBN: 0743436849
384 pages

Jordan MacKenzie's dad was so…normal. He was an optometrist --- certainly not the type anyone would think would go out and do something irrational. Jordan got along with him much better than she got along with her hippie mom, who threw a party when Jordan got her first period and married a "kinetic artist," whose metal sculptures decorate the lawn and spin in the trees on their property. Her dad is the last person Jordan ever suspects would do anything drastic, but her view of him is forced to change when he starts dating Gayle D'Angelo. Gayle is charming, beautiful and makes Jordan's father act like a silly teenager with a crush. That, of course, would all be fine and good if Gayle wasn't married. As the summer progresses, Jordan's father falls further into his obsession with Gayle D'Angelo and it leads to a horrific ending.

There's a lot more to this book than just Jordan's parents, though. She has a great best friend, Melissa. Too bad she's also interested in Melissa's brother, who's still recovering from an incident in which he was trapped in the woods for six days with no food. And who's interested in her? Kale Kramer --- the cutest, most lusted after, most annoying boy in school. It figures. As Jordan's father gets more caught up in his affair with Gayle, Jordan tries drastic measures to get his attention. Of course, her actions parallel his and this leads to a mess of emotions and family conflict. Every character in this book is unique and voiced well. It's a book that requires some thought, but where thoughts are concerned, it gives as well as it takes.

   --- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft

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