If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor

Any dreams Kate once had of a perfect summer are ruined. To add to the shame, the Cooper Melnicks’ gorgeous daughter Sarah is a bit like Lady Brett, and she seems less than thrilled to hang out with her new houseguest. If Kate were Lady Brett Ashley, the devastating hero*ine of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, she’d spend her summers careering around the Riviera in her coupe, breaking hearts by the dozen because why not? In reality, Kate’s never even had a boyfriend, and she’ll be spending the summer abetting her mom’s lame ploy to make her dad jealous: running off to Cape Cod and crashing at the seaside home of her wealthy friends, the Cooper Melnicks. From first time author Melissa Kantor comes a fresh and witty look at senior year from the perspective of one girl convinced she is everything but ‘It.’ Melissa Kantor teaches at a high school in Brooklyn, New York, where she lives with her husband. With college application deadlines looming and a group of seemingly vindictive gods ready to sabotage her every move, Jan is about to set off on a memorable trip through senior year and prove that being a ‘Not It’ girl has some major rewards.

From her best friend, who is an It girl, to her parents, who are way too embarrassing to her crushes who always seem to be in the right place at the wrong time, there is never a dull moment for Jan. In this smart and sassy debut novel, the spotlight is on Jan Miller a self labeled ‘Not It’ girl struggling to find out what and who she wants. (Feb.And when you are suffering from a hubris complex and are convinced that the gods on Olympus have focused their attention on you, things are sure to get even harder. Agent: Rebecca Friedman, Rebecca Friedman Literary Agency. Juliet's attempts to meet the expectations of those around her will readily resonate with readers under similar strains. Juliet navigates complex and unfamiliar emotions, eventually arriving at the gratifying if predictable recognition that struggles and setbacks lead to growth. Kantor (Maybe One Day) deals with the difficult topic of a parent's depression and recovery with sensitivity and grace. Rather than regretting her decision, she finds exhilaration from straying off the path that has been so carefully laid out for her, questioning whether striving for perfection at all costs has allowed her to develop real self-awareness.

But the night of her mother's hospitalization, Juliet unexpectedly hooked up with a boy, Declan.

Juliet's mother enters an inpatient psychiatric facility, and Juliet moves in with her boyfriend's charmed family. Then Juliet's father abandons the family, and Juliet finds her mother passed out from an overdose one night, covered in blood.

With affluent and supportive parents, a great boyfriend, a coveted internship, and a plan to attend Harvard, Juliet's future seems written in the stars.

If I Have a Wicked Stepmother, Where's My Prince? by Melissa Kantor