The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs

August 1, 2015
Just as easily as a middle school friend can turn into an enemy, so can a wallflower turn into a suburban warrior in this tale of a woman seeking the best comeback to a bully. Caroline Jacobs, a happily married photographer, usually keeps quiet, enduring insults, swallowing her pride, keeping out of the limelight. But when Mary Kate Dinali, smug and privileged Parent-Teacher Organization president, tries to bully shy Jessica Trent, Caroline finally stands up. To the shock of the entire PTO, Caroline expels an expletive, and soon her daughter, Polly, is defending her honor in the halls of Benjamin Banneker High School. Rather than face the principal and likely suspension, Caroline takes Polly on a road trip to face down her own demons from the past: specifically, Emily Kaplan, her childhood best friend who unceremoniously dumped Caroline 25 years ago in the middle of the school cafeteria, taking up with the far-more-cool Ellie Randolph. That public rejection ricocheted through Caroline's life, coloring her understanding of her father's leaving, her parents' divorce, their descent into near poverty, and even her younger sister's death. As the miles to Blackstone, Massachusetts pass under their wheels, Caroline tells Polly the story of her childhood. Polly slowly thaws, letting her mother's heartache open the lines of communication. Where once punk Polly frostily shut out Caroline, she now begins to assist in the plot to confront Emily-taking things even further than Caroline had anticipated. Dicks (Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, 2012, etc.) well balances Caroline's caution against Polly's pluck, Caroline's passive-aggressiveness against Polly's outrage, creating a believable mother-daughter relationship. As each secret comes to light, he shapes their initially fraught ties into strong friendship. Heartwarming and often darkly humorous, this road trip for vengeance fairly cries out for filming.

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September 15, 2015
It all starts when unassuming Caroline Jacobs shouts an obscenity at the Queen Beetype PTO president during a meeting. The following morning, Caroline's 15-year-old daughter, Polly, punches the PTO president's daughter and faces suspension. But Caroline spirits Polly away on a road trip to her Massachusetts hometown to confront her former best friend, Emily Kaplan, who publicly humiliated her during their freshman year. Because Caroline thinks this event changed the course of her life, becoming the underlying cause of her recent outburst, she sets off to provide the perfect comeback to Emily after 25 years, with Polly as her increasingly involved cohort. Nothing goes as planned, of course, and it becomes clear that Caroline has more to deal with than her former friend. Dicks (Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, 2012) knows high-school bullying firsthand, and his story rings true. But the strength of this novel is its well-rounded characters, notably children and teens, as they deal with life in general. Polly particularly shines in this sometimes quirky story with special appeal to all who struggled during their difficult high-school years.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

September 1, 2015

It all starts with the F-bomb. Quiet, shy pushover Caroline has had enough. Her expletive is directed straight at the PTO president Mrs. Denali, who has been passive-aggressively calling out the parents for not pulling their weight in volunteering. The next day, while Caroline considers how best to apologize to Mrs. Denali, she receives a phone call from the high school. Her 15-year-old daughter Polly has a much stronger backbone; she's been suspended for punching, of all people, Mrs. Denali's daughter. On a whim, Caroline decides to break her daughter out of school to drive to her hometown. She hopes to confront her childhood best friend Emily Kaplan, who humiliated her one day in the school cafeteria 25 years ago, forever changing the trajectory of Caroline's life, or so she thinks. Caroline has placed a great deal of emphasis on her best friend's betrayal and is now ready to stand up to her bully. But mustering that courage doesn't come easy. VERDICT Dicks's fourth novel (after Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend) is for anyone who has wished they'd stood up for themselves or delivered that perfect comeback at just the right time. [See Prepub Alert, 3/23/15.]--Melissa Keegan, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2015

Caroline Jacobs, seemingly scared of her own shadow, not to mention her tattooed teenage daughter, blows everyone away (including herself) when she screams "Fuck you!" at the PTA president. But suddenly she feels brave enough to confront a long-ago betrayal. From the author of Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.