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Product Description
Quill & Quire
Until her senior year of high school, Parker Fadley was teen royalty: cheerleading team captain, academic all-star, pretty, perfect. Now, she’s heading for social bottomfeeder status – and through the liberal use of icy insults, cruel manipulation, and a hack-job haircut, she has almost achieved it. So what’s eating her? Debut author Courtney Summers follows the spiralling flight path of the queen bee, as she falls from perfect student to perfect mess. Into that mess strides Jake, the new kid at school, who has an annoying interest in saving Parker from herself. But there’s a secret driving her to self-loathing and possible self-destruction. Summers’ writing is sparse, gritty, and taut, and laced with the raunchy speech of high school hallways. Both the mysterious cause of Parker’s breakdown and her gloriously erratic behaviour make for compelling reading, transforming this popularity-gone-awry premise into a page-turning drama with the tension of a whodunit. As the characters trot from private school to home to the mall, there is little sense of place (the setting is officially Corby, Connecticut, but could be Anywhere, USA), which makes the story seem thin at times. Yet at the heart of Summers’ story is people – or, more specifically, one person and her slightly unhinged mind. Summers extrapolates the inner lives of her teenagers with skill, digging deep into the tough stuff: destructive perfectionism, suicidal impulses, substance abuse and troubled relationships with sex. Summers mixes a bitter cocktail. Yet the author’s surprising humour and ear for teen-speak make this dark tale compulsively readable. Despite Fadley’s sarcastic nastiness, ruthless verbal sparring, and pervasive pessimism – or perhaps because of it all – readers will find themselves cheering for the good girl gone bad.
Review
"Courtney Summers is a writer who pulls no punches and Parker Fadley is a character you won't forget. Together, they create a novel that will keep you on edge, turning pages long into the night."
--K.L Going, author of Saint Iggy
"Told in beautifully rendered, spare, haunting prose...Courtney Summers has written a remarkable debut. I thought about this one long after I'd reached the end,"
--Alyson Noël, author of Saving Zoë
"Summers expertly navigates the dangerous waters of high school, leading her readers on until she reveals the grim secret that led her troubled heroine to the brink of suicide. Fans of Lois Duncan and Chrisotpher Pike will appreciate this dark tale."
--Martha O'Connor, author of Bitch Posse
"Cracked Up To Be gives you Parker, her world, her friends, straight up, no chaser. You won't forget her."
--Kathe Koja author of Kissing The Bee
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Handle Like Hendrix reviews Cracked Up to Be,
By
This review is from: Cracked Up to Be (Paperback)
Cracked Up to Be is about someone who blames herself, either rightly so or not, depending on what you think.What could be a really emotional novel about self-destruction is actually an insanely funny book with, as I mentioned, emotion. Parker is what makes this book funny. She's sarcastic and her own person and, from what I've gathered, I prefer this Parker to the 'perfect' one. As I have said many times in my bookclub, I think Parker is a very well-developed character. Courtney Summers gives flashbacks in italics of the night where something big happened, adding a bit more to it each time. It's totally frusterating not knowing what happened but luckily you don't have to wait long as the book is just over 200 pages. Some stuff in this book will definatly make you laugh and smile, or feel sad. All within good reason. I look forward to Summer's next novel coming out sometime in 2010 I believe. Reviewed by Callie at Handle Like Hendrix
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too,
By TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cracked Up to Be (Paperback)
Parker Fadley was captain of the varsity cheerleading squad. She'd been on the honor roll for the first three years of high school, and Chris, the most popular guy at school, was in love with her, the most popular girl in school. Now, no matter how awful she is to him, she knows he still loves her, but she's not worth it.Not since the party. Not since her life took a radical one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn. Her parents have her on a tight leash. Early curfews. Weekly meetings with the guidance counselor. Dinners with sad, yet hopeful eyes turned her way, yearning for a glimpse of the Parker they used to know. Everyone has her on a suicide watch, but nobody knows why. What could have caused Parker Fadley to turn away from everything and everyone? It's Jake who begins to get under her skin with his unnerving presence and constant questions. How can she possibly be that interesting to him? When Evan comes back to school, she can no longer keep the memories of the events of that night at bay. Whether she wants to or not, she's going to have to find the real Parker Fadley, or risk losing her forever. The restful cover of CRACKED UP TO BE belies the unrest and turmoil that is Parker. The voice is incredible, similar to that of SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. Courtney Summers doles out the secrets in small portions, teasing the reader, and when the events of the party are finally revealed with nothing held back, the tension is palpable. And no matter how many hints Ms. Summers drops, you'll never be able to guess Parker's terrible secret. This debut author is just that good. Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic, well-written book!,
By Leslie (Vancouver, B.C. Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cracked Up to Be (Paperback)
I absolutely couldn't put this book down and ended up reading the whole thing in a single day. It's so well-written, engaging, and even suspenseful, with the character's past revealed in masterfully written pieces as you get to know her. It made me laugh out loud, and I even found myself tearing up at a couple of moments. The book is not really what one would expect from a YA novel, and that's a really good thing. It's smart, witty, and unapologetic. If you're looking for a unique, funny, biting, and extremely well-written read, Courtney Summers has written the ideal book!
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