Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen

January 30, 2012
Olivia Bean is one stressed-out 12-year-old. Despite having inherited her father’s knack for trivia retention, she’s miserable at geography: an upcoming test has her tied up in knots. Dad’s no help—he moved to California with the mother of Olivia’s best friend (taking the best friend away, too). Now her mother’s boyfriend has moved in, and Olivia is being pestered by Tucker, the boy next door. Things begin to turn around for Olivia when Tucker (of all people) tells her that Jeopardy! is looking for kid contestants. Watching Jeopardy! with her father was a nightly ritual before he split, and if Olivia can ace the online test and the in-person audition to get on the show, she’ll be flown to California where her father will realize what he’s missing. Readers will figure out long before Olivia does that her father is a complete loser. The real draw in this tender, triumphant novel from Gephart (How to Survive Middle School) is Olivia’s successful progression through Jeopardy!’s hoops and the happy ending for one particularly deserving contestant. Ages 8–12. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM.

Starred review from January 15, 2012
One question can best sum up 12-year-old Olivia Bean's life: What is worse than having a 5-year-old brother who is obsessed with gross trivia and sharing your house with your mother's boyfriend? The answer: losing your dad, too. Her dad's move across the country with "Stella the Stealer" and her daughter, Nikki, Livi's former BFF, throws Livi's life into turmoil. Trivia-loving Livi desperately misses watching Jeopardy! with her dad, a nightly tradition that is not the same with mom's boyfriend, Neil. Despite his many promises to stay in touch, Livi's relationship with her dad is nearly non-existent since he left. The chance to be on the kids-week edition of Jeopardy! seems to be the perfect opportunity for Livi to reconnect with her father. Can Livi find the confidence in herself to go for it? Gephart addresses Olivia's situation with a combination of wit and poignancy that perfectly reflects Olivia's determined yet vulnerable character. As she struggles to reconcile her myriad feelings toward her new situation, Livi must decide what defines her and her family--questions only she can answer. This tale will have readers cheering for the resilient, resourceful Olivia. (Fiction. 9-13)

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March 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-The pursuit of trivial information has been a primary focus of Olivia Bean's family life for as long as she can remember. In fact, her nightly viewings of Jeopardy! have become a brief respite from recent troubling events, including her parents' divorce and the abrupt departure of her best friend. When the game show announces its search for "kids week" contestants, Olivia swallows her self-doubt and takes the initial online quiz. Before she knows it, she's on the show. The taping takes her from Philadelphia to California, her father's new home, and offers her the chance to share her personal victory with her often-absent parent; however, he again proves to be unreliable. This forces Olivia to begin to redefine his place in her life. Gephart has crafted a convincing narrative about a child trying to make sense of the complex adult world. Her use of questions as chapter titles keeps readers tied in to the protagonist's Jeopardy! obsession while maintaining the plot's momentum. Olivia's narrative is sometimes muddied by the sheer number of issues being addressed, including divorce, friendship, first crushes, relationships with parents and stepparents, job loss and its effects, and the pursuit of self-confidence; however, the major conflict of the story line is resolved in a realistic manner.-Colleen S. Banick, Tomlinson Middle School, Fairfield, CT

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
Grades 4-7 Twelve-year-old Olivia Bean is a Jeopardy addict. It was one of the major bonds between her and her fatherbefore he moved to California with the mother of her best friend. It's been hard to deal with all that's been lost since then: her dad's interest, her ability to maintain a friendship with Nikki, her mother's newspaper job. And she isn't happy about the one addition, either, as her mom's boyfriend moves into the house. But the through line of the story is Olivia's fervent desire to make it to Kids' Week on Jeopardy; getting on the show might lead to prize money and an opportunity to see her father. Gephart keeps all the parts moving, even adding a dollop of romance. Although Mr. Bean's obliviousness to his children often borders on cruelty, the book gets to the ambivalence kids of divorce often feel: a longing for the absent parent mixed with justifiable anger. While perhaps only a minority of kids will relate to Olivia's Jeopardy love, most will identify with the rest of her angst at school and at home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)