Oh, I love a good mean girl story. Forget making sequels to Karate Kid and Fame, Hollywood should do a remake of Heathers. You can’t go wrong with Christian Slater and Winona Ryder offing the popular girls. Well, unless you’re reading the new YA novel, GETTING REVENGE ON LAUREN WOOD, by GCC member Eileen Cook. The book’s got a Barbie on the cover! With a knife in her plastic back! How awesome is that? So check it out, it just debuted this week through Simon Pulse.
As always, here’s a little bit about her book to get you hooked:
Popularity is the best revenge.
In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls–and now, at the start of her senior year, she’s the cheerleading captain, the quarterback’s girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she’s ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.
But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she’s moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn’t dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that’s ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.
Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.
Here’s what Eileen had to say:
Q: In AMOR AND SUMMER SECRETS, Mariana discovers a hidden family secret. Are you a good secret keeper?
Eileen: I want to be a good secret keeper- does that count? I am the world’s worst liar. I could never go into a life of crime. I could keep the secret unless someone started asking too many questions and then the gig would be up.
Q: What is the favorite place you ever traveled to, and what was the coolest thing you saw/did there?
Eileen: I love to travel too! London is my favorite city to return to, but an all time favorite place to visit was Egypt. We did a ton of cool things including camel rides through the desert and going into the giant pyramid.
Q: I often tell the story of how a psychic once predicted that I would go on to write children’s books. Have you ever visited a psychic?
Eileen: My first book was called Unpredictable and it is about a woman who pretends to be a psychic in order to give a fake prediction to her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. When I was researching the book I went to over a dozen psychics. There were a few things they predicted that came true- but I’m not sure if it was because they were good psychics or if they would have come true anyway. I think going to a psychic can be fun, but you have to find your own way in life.
Q: My character Mariana spends her summer in Puerto Rico connecting with her father’s heritage. Have you ever researched your family tree?
Eileen: My parents are both interested in their family histories so I’ve lucked out in getting to see all this neat history without having to do any of the research work myself. I have some pictures of my grandfather in college (he went to Notre Dame in the late 1920’s) that I love. I’ve been to Ireland where my family is from, but the house my grandmother grew up in was torn down to make a gas station. Hard to feel too sentimental about a gas station.
Q: Where were you when you found out that your book was going to be published?
Eileen: When I heard my first book was going to be published I was at home waiting for the car repair place to call and give me the bad news on what my costs were going to be. I had been planning in my mind for so long what it would be like to get the call, down to what I would be wearing and how I would act, that when it finally happened it didn’t even seem real. I’m pretty sure my agent thought I was taking heavy medications. I was very calm, all “yes, I see. Mmm-hmm. That sounds good.” I hung up the phone and kept thinking. “this is it. this is it,” but it took forever to sink in.
Thank you, Eileen! Now, everyone go out and buy books, lots and lots of books!
