The Dead Queens Club

Gr 7 Up—Annie Marck, aka Cleveland, is not your typical new girl struggling to find her place in her new home, Small Town, Indiana. Instead, Cleveland enters the scene on the arm of the most popular boy in town, super jock, genius, and prankster Henry. No, she's not his girlfriend, but yes maybe she'd like to be. Henry is on his sixth girlfriend in two years, and his most recent ex is dead, killed in a mysterious prom explosion. Everyone has their theories, but Cleves is determined to find out what really happened before it's too late and history repeats itself. Capin's debut YA authentically captures high school culture and dialogue. Though sometimes a bit contrived and overly detailed, the novel's light humor and whodunit aspect will keep readers' interest in this send-up of King Henry VIII and his many wives.