Special Topics in Calamity Physics

It took me about 6 weeks to finish this book--partly because I made the mistake of starting other books at the same time and getting engrossed in them (Lisey's Story, 13th Tale), and partly because I'd forget I had this on the bedside table and I've pretty much stopped reading in bed at night since Teo's back in the bed!

At first the constant cross-referencing and source-citing by Blue Van Meer, the 15-year old heroine, was a charming tic. Later on, since she did it relentlessly throughout the book (I'm pretty sure a lot of the stuff she cited, aside from those her father, Gareth, had written were fictional) it lost its appeal and entertainment value.

But irritating as all the parenthetical attributions might be to me, I still found this a worthwhile read.

Blue and her father move to a small North Carolina town for her senior year of high school while her dad teaches political science at the local college. She falls in with the Blue Bloods--a group of five seniors united by their affection for Hannah Schneider, the beautiful film teacher whose idea it is to reach out to the newcomer.

Soon Blue is drinking, staying out late, though that's the extent of her rebellion from the previously very closeted life she had with her dad as they traveled across the US, never laying roots down for more than a year.

The Blue Bloods are shaken by a death at Hannah's house, and by the increasingly troubled behavior of their mentor. In March, during a Blue Blood camping trip with Hannah, Blue finds her swinging from a tree in the woods. The gang turns on Blue and she takes on the task of figuring out the truth behind Hannah's death.

Blue finds more answers than she means to, with the result of more betrayal and abandonment. But you don't finish the novel feeling too sorry for her--from her exploits and intelligence one feels Blue will be just fine.