Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Synopsis:
After getting caught hooking up with her best friend’s ex on the last day of junior year, Kendall starts senior year friendless and ostracized. She plans to keep her head down until she graduates. But after discovering her online identity has been hacked and she’s being framed for stealing from a dealer, Kendall is drawn into a tenuous partnership with the mastermind of a drug ring lurking in the shadows of her Brooklyn private school. If she wants to repair her tattered reputation and save her neck, she’ll have to decide who she really is—and own it. The longer she plays the role of “bad girl,” the more she becomes her new reputation. Friends and enemies, detectives and drug dealers—no one is who they appear to be. Least of all Kendall.
Hi Maxine!! We are so excited to have you in our tours and to chat with you about THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL!!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Favorite Book?
This question is so, so, so hard. I’m going to say The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, because that is at least entirely unimpeachable.
Favorite TV show?
I watch so much TV; I love it. But right now I’m frantically devouring the seasons I’ve missed of The Americans and, you know what? DC’s Legends of Tomorrow had a near-perfect season. I’m going to give it a nod.
Favorite movie?
You’re KILLING me with these. I was actually just talking about this at a wedding last weekend: I think Wayne’s World and Bachelorette are near perfect movies, in very, very different ways.
Favorite Song?
Hmmmm. At the moment, I am obsessed with the Bette Midler cover of “Beast of Burden.” I’ll stand by that.
Favorite Food?
That I can make myself? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And, I’m not a vegetarian, but my husband has the world’s best veggie burger recipe. I crave it kind of all the time. Also bacon.
Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat.
Deep Space Nine. Ankh-Morpork. Hogwarts.
What were your favorite books while growing up?
The Ordinary Princess by MM Kaye and Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis.
Favorite Quote?
From another favorite book, A Room With a View by E.M. Forster: “By the side of the everlasting Why, there is a Yes—a transitory Yes if you like, but a Yes.”
What do you find yourself “Fangirling” over?
I met Neil Gaiman recently and instantly turned to into Jello.
What recent book would you recommend to our YA fans?
I have to give props to my fellow debuts. I’ve been reading so many good ones—three standout June releases are Always Forever Maybe by Anica Mrose Rissi, The Bird and the Blade by Megan Bannen, and The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL?
THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL is a feminist revisionist take on North by Northwest and an origin story for a femme fatale. It’s a darkly comic neo-noir and a thriller about slut-shaming. It’s about Kendall, who starts her senior year ostracized after being caught with her queen bee best friend’s boyfriend. A case of stolen identity and blackmail sends her down a rabbit hole into the criminal underworld of her moneyed Brooklyn home—and makes her ask one question: What does it mean to be a bad girl?
What 3 hashtags would you most associate with your book? (Could be a word or phrase or anything that would instantly make you think of THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL.)
#BadGirlGoodGirl #MeToo #SorryNotSorry
Besides reading, writing, and blogging, I love fashion!! What does Kendall wear on weekends?
Oooh I love this question. Kendall’s fashion choices go through a real evolution throughout the book. At the beginning: bright colors, clean lines—tidy fitted jeans, a bright pink cardigan, and a lacy white camisole. At the end…? It’s almost a spoiler alert.
Tell us your favorite quote from THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL.
This is hard. I’m going to steal someone else’s favorite quote:
What really killed me about this whole mess was that everything I was, everything I had ever been--athlete, honor student, class officer, friend; smart, social, responsible, funny--had been wiped out the second I'd had sex.
Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write? Or which part was the most difficult to get through?
I had a lot of fun writing the action scenes! Especially the climax at the end—although it was also the hardest to get right.
If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL– Which one would you pick?
“Criminal” by Fiona Apple. It’s basically the anthem for the book.
Are there any recommendations you could give your readers to be in the “perfect mood” to read THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL (specific music, snacks…)?
Put on some 90s Riot Grrrl music and have bright red toenails. Perfect.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on more YA! I just finished a feminist fantasy comedy and am in the very, very early stages of plotting a bloody Jane Austen-inspired murder mystery.
Thanks so much for chatting with us!!
Maxine Kaplan was born in Washington, DC. She and her twin sister spent their early childhoods trotting behind their journalist parents as they traveled around the world, eventually settling in Brooklyn, NY. Maxine graduated from Oberlin College in 2007. Following a long stint in the world of publishing, she has worked as a private investigator since 2009. She lives in her adopted hometown of Brooklyn, NY, with her lovely husband and complex cat. THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL is her debut novel. Follow Maxine on Twitter @MaxineGKaplan
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I'm intrigued by the decisions this character has made and is now facing and want to live them thorough her. On my TBR.
ReplyDelete"What do you think about THE ACCIDENTAL BAD GIRL? Will you be adding it to your TBR?" The hook-up and the drugs shock and appall me!--I have added this to my TBR!!
ReplyDeleteAnkh-Morpork! Certainly wouldn't be a shortage of goings on! :)
ReplyDeleteI've already got it on my TBR -- cannot wait to read it! -- Kara S
ReplyDelete