The Queen of Cool

by Cecil Castellucci

Overview

"Albert Camus meets Mariah Fredericks in this smart, edgy take on one adolescent’s search for identity and meaning in life." — Kirkus Reviews

On the outside, Libby Brin is the most popular girl in school. But on the inside, Libby is dying -- of boredom. In a moment of desperation, Libby signs up for an internship at the Los Angeles Zoo, much to the dismay of her friends, who’d prefer she spend her time with them, shopping, partying, and making fun of everyone else. Oddly, Libby realizes that she actually enjoys her new job and that she may even like the two "nerds" she works with. Will the Queen of Cool be forced to give up her crown?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763662189
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/09/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	570L (what's this?)
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Cecil Castellucci is the author of the young adult novel Boy Proof. She is also a writer, filmmaker, actress, and singer-songwriter, and engages in many, many other creative pursuits. She says, "Sometimes I feel cool and other times I feel like the biggest loser ever. So I started wondering, what would happen if everything you always thought was cool was suddenly lame? What would happen to you, if you were all of a sudden uncool? And what exactly is ‘cool,’ anyway? This story came out of a desire to figure it all out."

“I’m a card-carrying sci-fi geek and proud of it,” Cecil Castellucci proclaims. The lead player in her debut novel, Boy Proof, would probably say the same thing. Victoria Jurgen, aka Egg, is an antisocial cinephile who meets up with the worldly new guy at school—a quick-witted artist who’s savvy enough to see through her sci-fi disguise. Both Cecil Castellucci and Egg have a passion for the creativity and imagination that are the hallmarks of science fiction.

The author’s creativity goes all the way back to her childhood years growing up in New York. She wrote her first story at the age of five. It was one paragraph long, and every word was misspelled. Later she attended the LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, where she studied theater, wore vintage clothes, watched a lot of old black-and-white movies, and saw numerous Broadway plays.

From there, the talents of Boy Proof’s creator only continued to grow. Cecil Castellucci’s second young adult novel, The Queen of Cool, was published in 2006. “Sometimes I feel cool and other times I feel like the biggest loser ever,” the author admits. “So I started wondering, what would happen if everything you always thought was cool was suddenly lame? What would happen to you if you were all of a sudden uncool? And what exactly is ‘cool,’ anyway? The Queen of Cool came out of a desire to figure it all out.” About her third young adult novel, Beige, she says, “When I first moved to Los Angeles from Montreal . . . everyone was So-Cal Punk crazy and I felt so . . . beige. I wondered what it would be like to grow up around adults that cool, especially if you were plopped into that scene when it wasn’t yours.”

Not only is Cecil Castellucci a writer, she is also a filmmaker and is co-founder of the short-film club Alpha 60, which is dedicated to creative endeavors in film. She can be seen acting in her own and others’ performance pieces and plays. She is also known as a singer-songwriter under the pseudonym Cecil Seaskull, and was the lead Nerd in the band Nerdy Girl.

So what more should you know about this imaginative artist? Here are a few fun facts:

Three Things You Might Not Know About Cecil:

1. She waited in line for six weeks in a tent on Hollywood Boulevard, in front of the Mann’s Chinese Theatre, for tickets to Star Wars: Episode I.

2. Oriental poppies are her favorite flower; pomegranates are her favorite fruit.

3. Her feet are very tiny and she has been known to walk with only one high heel shoe on (a la Cinderella).

Cecil Castellucci lives in Los Angeles, in the “belly of the beast” known as Hollywood.

Read an Excerpt

Ms. Lew, an aspiring actress who can hardly fake being interested in teaching us, places her hands on the back of her chair and sighs heavily.

I bet we are the closest thing she ever comes to having an audience. She turns and writes the words Endangered Species on the board in dry erase marker. She’s picked the color red. I can tell this is going to be a dramatic class.

"The world is in ecological crisis. Who can guess some of the causes for endangerment?" she asks.

A handful of kids in the front of the room raise their hands.

"Tina," Ms. Lew says as she calls on Tiny.

"Causes could include habitat loss, or the introduction of a new exotic species into the environment."

Showoff.

I wonder if Tiny has to sit in the front of the room because she can’t see over anybody’s head if she sits anywhere else. I wonder if that’s why she always raises her hand. I wonder if the classroom looks different from the front of the room. I bet it’s harder to not pay attention.

"Good, Tina." Ms. Lew says. "Anyone else? Libby? You have a look of deep thought on your face. Do you have anything to add?"

"Me?" I ask. I hate being singled out in class.

"No thoughts at all?"

"None I care to share," I say.

People laugh. Ms. Lew is not happy.

"How about overexploitation?" Sid calls out.

I turn to look at him as he acts the hero, thinking he’s saved my ass. He hasn’t. I could’ve come up with an acceptable answer. If I really wanted to.

"Good. How about some examples?" Ms. Lew says.

"Well, like people who think tiger bones will make them virile," Sid says.

People laugh. Louder.

I notice that Sid is not laughing. The word virile doesn’t make him crack a smile.

"Excellent," Ms. Lew says, her mood brightening a bit. She probably feels good about her performance today.

She starts writing down a million notes on the board. Pulling down maps. Handing out info sheets. She is excited.

But me, I am ready for a nap.

I open my loose-leaf notebook, propping it up in front of me. Then I put my head down on the desk.

It smells like pencil and hand.

_______

Editorial Reviews

Gr 8 Up-Libby is cool to the max. However, she's bored with having all new clothes, her own car, and the freedom to go wherever she wants. She begins to question all of her self-indulgent and shallow friends, the drinking parties (with the parents' permission) and smoking pot, and the free sex that goes on without any love or commitment. When she signs up to become an intern at the Los Angeles Zoo, she meets some of the "uncool" kids and sees their strengths and begins to change. While some of this seems contrived and Libby's transformation is a bit facile, the book follows several recent movies that teens are watching. Cool will draw even reluctant readers, and the satisfying ending wraps up all the loose ends. Castellucci clearly knows what goes on in the lives of many teens. This novel should be as popular as her Boy Proof (Candlewick, 2005).-Gail E. Wellman, East Middle School, Binghamton, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Albert Camus meets Mariah Fredericks in this smart, edgy take on one adolescent's search for identity and meaning in life. The mastermind behind Pajama Day, the lone streaker at the high-school dance and IT girl, Libby suddenly finds that her cluster of reality-show wannabes, shallow friends and casual hookups leave her bored and empty inside. On a whim, she signs up for an internship at the Los Angeles Zoo. Among her socially and fashion-challenged zoo team, she meets Tina (aka Tiny), a Little Person with big confidence and dreams of being an actress. As Libby eventually becomes the last to hear the latest cool plan of the day, she wonders how Tina and her nerdy companions create passion in their everyday lives. When Libby's "friends" jeopardize Tina's intern position, she unexpectedly takes the heat and discovers that life among the common folk is actually quite extraordinary. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews

Ms. Lew, an aspiring actress who can hardly fake being interested in teaching us, places her hands on the back of her chair and sighs heavily.

I bet we are the closest thing she ever comes to having an audience.
She turns and writes the words Endangered Species on the board in dry erase marker. She’s picked the color red. I can tell this is going to be a dramatic class.

"The world is in ecological crisis. Who can guess some of the causes for endangerment?" she asks.

A handful of kids in the front of the room raise their hands.

"Tina," Ms. Lew says as she calls on Tiny.

"Causes could include habitat loss, or the introduction of a new exotic species into the environment."

Showoff.

I wonder if Tiny has to sit in the front of the room because she can’t see over anybody’s head if she sits anywhere else. I wonder if that’s why she always raises her hand. I wonder if the classroom looks different from the front of the room. I bet it’s harder to not pay attention.

"Good, Tina." Ms. Lew says. "Anyone else? Libby? You have a look of deep thought on your face. Do you have anything to add?"

"Me?" I ask. I hate being singled out in class.

"No thoughts at all?"

"None I care to share," I say.

People laugh. Ms. Lew is not happy.

"How about overexploitation?" Sid calls out.

I turn to look at him as he acts the hero, thinking he’s saved my ass. He hasn’t. I could’ve come up with an acceptable answer. If I really wanted to.

"Good. How about some examples?" Ms. Lew says.

"Well, like people who think tiger bones will make them virile," Sid says.

People laugh. Louder.

I notice that Sid is not laughing. The word virile doesn’t make him crack a smile.

"Excellent," Ms. Lew says, her mood brightening a bit. She probably feels good about her performance today.

She starts writing down a million notes on the board. Pulling down maps. Handing out info sheets. She is excited.

But me, I am ready for a nap.

I open my loose-leaf notebook, propping it up in front of me. Then I put my head down on the desk.

It smells like pencil and hand.

_______

THE QUEEN OF COOL by Cecil Castellucci. Copyright © 2006 by Cecil Castellucci. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

From the Publisher