Julep Dupree tells lies. A lot of them. She’s a con artist, a master of disguise, and a sophomore at Chicago’s swanky St. Agatha High, where her father, an old-school grifter with a weakness for the ponies, sends her to so she can learn to mingle with the upper crust. For extra spending money Julep doesn’t rely on her dad—she runs petty scams for her classmates while dodging the dean of students and maintaining an A+ (okay, A-) average.
But when she comes home one day to a ransacked apartment and her father gone, Julep’s carefully laid plans for an expenses-paid golden ticket to Yale start to unravel. Even with help from St. Agatha’s resident Prince Charming, Tyler Richland, and her loyal hacker sidekick, Sam, Julep struggles to trace her dad’s trail of clues through a maze of creepy stalkers, hit attempts, family secrets, and worse, the threat of foster care. With everything she has at stake, Julep’s in way over her head . . . but that’s not going to stop her from using every trick in the book to find her dad before his mark finds her. Because that would be criminal.
“A sexy love triangle and madcap mystery . . . I loved this book.” —Jennifer Echols, author of Dirty Little Secret
One of TeenVogue's 15 Most Exciting YA Books of 2014
One of PopCrush's 10 Most Anticipated YA Books
"Julep isn't just another high schooler beset by the usual drama of boys and academia. Nope—she also happens to be a con artist and master of disguise, which comes in mighty handy when her father mysteriously disappears. Determined, she delves into the underbelly of Chicago to find him (bringing a bunch of fresh plot lines and unexpected twists along the way)."—teenVogue.com
"Summer creates a standout character in Julep. She lies and cheats with so much confidence and skill that readers will cheer her on, but she also adheres to her own strict moral code. . . . A memorable debut; here's hoping for a lot more from Summer."—Kirkus Reviews
“Entertaining.”—Publishers Weekly
“Well-paced, well-plotted.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
October 14, 2014 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780385382885
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780385382885
- File size: 3583 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- ATOS Level: 5.2
- Lexile® Measure: 750
- Interest Level: 9-12(UG)
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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Publisher's Weekly
August 18, 2014
Debut author Summer’s series kickoff accompanies its shrewd protagonist on a myriad of escapades as one of the best “fixers” in Chicago. At first, 15-year-old Julep Dupree is content to run small-time cons for a fee and a favor—finagling a geek’s date to a dance with a popular girl or fabricating fake IDs for St. Agatha’s Preparatory School’s precocious socialites. But when her apartment is ransacked and her father (also a hustler) goes missing, Julep must figure out who is responsible, even if it means getting suspended from school, risking foster care, evading the FBI, and hunting down a Ukrainian mob kingpin. Julep’s investigations and quick escapes keep the high-stakes story entertaining and readers guessing, yet her inability to read some characters’ all-too-obvious motives is surprising given her wealth of talents as a grifter. Scenes involving a gun battle, a stabbing, an explosion, and a surprising death make for action-packed albeit gruesome reading, and enticing clues dropped at the end of the novel pave the way for Julep’s next tussle. Ages 12–up. Agent: Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency. -
Kirkus
September 1, 2014
A girl grifter becomes caught up in a scheme that might be too big to handle. At only 15, Julep already is an accomplished grifter. No wonder: She learned from the best. Her dad is such a great con artist that he's never been caught. Despite his success, Julep must run cons and fixer services for her rich classmates to keep paying her tuition to a select private school because Dad throws his money away on the horses. When she arrives home one night to find their apartment trashed, she realizes that her dad has become involved with some dangerous characters and sets out to find him. Meanwhile she has to pay the rent as well as her tuition and living expenses while hiding her parentless state to avoid foster care, so she steps up her services, involving her best friend, Sam, and her possible new heartthrob, wealthy and handsome Tyler. Her efforts to track her father down hinge on cryptic clues he left for her, and following the trail puts her, Sam and Tyler into real danger. Summer creates a standout character in Julep. She lies and cheats with so much confidence and skill that readers will cheer her on, but she also adheres to her own strict moral code. The nature of the crime her father is caught up in, when revealed, just ratchets up the suspense. A memorable debut; here's hoping for a lot more from Summer. (Thriller. 14-18)COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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School Library Journal
September 1, 2014
Gr 8 Up-Julep Dupree is a liar. Trained by her father in the family grifting business, she is adept at trading lies for money to pay the bills. Good thing, too, because the tuition for St. Agatha's High School is high. Julep isn't alarmed when she returns home one evening to find that her father missing, but the tousled state of the apartment leaves her with a hollow feeling and sets her on a chase to find him and the "mark" that perpetrated the ransacking. Best friend Sam is worried for her, but the teen pushes off his concern, even as she begins to get unusual and convenient attention from the class heartthrob, Tyler Richland. Together, the three high school students work to discover answers to all of Julep's questions, a mission that will prove deadly for one of them. Summer has penned a debut novel chronicling the life of a teenage grifter that is outrageous and believable. In Julep, the author explores a young female character who must call into question the actions of all those with whom she has contact, drawing upon inner strength to fortify her, even in the face of mortal danger. Summer's characters are well developed and leave readers looking forward to the next installment in this series.-Colleen S. Banick, Westport Public Schools, CT
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Formats
- OverDrive Read
- EPUB ebook
subjects
Languages
- English
Levels
- ATOS Level:5.2
- Lexile® Measure:750
- Interest Level:9-12(UG)
- Text Difficulty:3-4
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