The Queen of Cool

by Cecil Castellucci

Book Overview

"Albert Camus meets Mariah Fredericks in this smart, edgy take on one adolescent's search for identity and meaning in life." -- Kirkus Reviews On the outside, Libby Brin is the most popular girl in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0763627208
• ISBN13: 9780763627201
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
• Length: 166 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Fast Read with Big Impact

THE QUEEN OF COOL is a short, fast read about Libby, the coolest girl in school. But is Libby really too cool for school, or just bored with her friends and their pleasure-seeking lives? Her best friend is the school beauty, just coasting until her Hollywood producer father creates a reality show for her to star in. Her boyfriend is not so much a caring lover as he is someone to hook up with at parties. Her parents are well-meaning, but have problems of their own; when her father quits his job to return to his first love, playwrighting, it creates tension at home. Only Sid, an aspiring musician who is just barely cool enough to hang with Libby's gang, seems to think there is more to Libby than the social queen bee who comes up with "Wear Pencils on Your Clothes" day. Feeling increasing out of sorts with her life, Libby finds herself signing up for an internship at the Los Angeles Zoo. Her friends pressure her to give it up because it means she will be less available for parties and hanging out, but Libby sticks to her whim. She is assigned to a group that includes Tina, a Little Person who also goes to her private high school, and Sheldon, a science geek with bad skin. At first Libby treats her teammates with disdain. But before too long, Libby discovers that she enjoys her work at the zoo, and comes to appreciate Tina and Sheldon - while seeing her old friends with a sharper, clearer eye. As The Queen of Cool, Libby doesn't care about anyone or anything except herself. But the Intern Libby is learning to appreciate passion and the people who have it. Her two worlds can't remain separate for long, and Libby is faced with a choice: lose her social status or lose her internship. Will Libby appreciate her newly acquired sense of worth enough to make the right decision? While THE QUEEN OF COOL is a slim book, the impact of Libby's story lingers. Author Castellucci is never preachy or condescending. Libby is a three-dimensional character who feels aching real. Highly recommended.

Read Queen of Cool, and the Queen will be YOU

Dudes, this is a great book. It's a book that makes you want to be a better person--while at the same time making your snicker and sniffle and giggle. This Cecil chick knows how to write!!! It also makes you want better toes. Or at least better toe art. Are there crown decals at my local Rite-Aid? No, there are not! I WANT CROWN DECALS FOR MY TOES!!!! :)

Going along with the world

Libby's just cruising along with the world, coasting, hanging on to coolness because she can and because it's easy. She's casually with the cool guys because she can have them, drinking because that's what you do when you're cool, ranking on the less cool because it keeps the social order. But then Libby grows tired of it all. She considers that her life might be more real if she stops worrying so much about how cool she is. When she joins a group of students volunteering at the zoo, she discovers how great it is to be true to herself without worrying about what the cool group thinks. She likes the feel but knows what it means. Will she have to give up her title as queen of cool?

A deceptively easy read with much more depth between the lines

Libby Brin is cool. She's a member of the coolest clique on campus, throws amazing parties, and starts the newest, hottest (if short-lived) trends. And she's bored. It's not enough anymore for Libby to have money, sex without strings, and the ability to do pretty much whatever she wants. She's growing tired of her shallow friends and their lackluster ambitions. Her need to become something more than she is leads her to do the unexplainable, even the unthinkable, the uncoolest thing she's ever done: She signs up for an internship at the Los Angeles Zoo. At the zoo, she is assigned to work with Tina, a Little Person with a big personality, and Sheldon, who is overweight, shy, and incredibly smart. As Libby becomes more interested in her work at the zoo, she begins drifting from her friends and is soon the last person to find out about the latest trends. This Queen of Cool, though, is starting to figure out that there's a lot more to being cool than fashion-slave t-shirts and wearing pencils taped to your jeans. Minimalist writing, where the change in the main character comes slowly over pages of sparse, carefully chosen words, isn't something you see a lot of in teen literature. Let's hope THE QUEEN OF COOL changes some of that. On the surface, this is an easy read that you might dismiss as being "for younger kids." Once you start reading, though, you'll fill in the spaces between the words and maybe even change a few of your own thoughts on what makes for cool. --- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

very cool

When IT girl Libby Brin changes her formula for cool, taking time away from her A-List friends to do an internship at the zoo with Those Most Likely To Wear An L On Their Foreheads, she takes her first step toward being not just cool on the outdide, but cool on the inside as well, the kind of cool that readers really respect. The Queen of Cool is one of my favorite YAs thus far this year and its reversal of expectations is the perfect anecdote for those readers fatugued with the materialism of the Gossip Girls or even those simply looking for something fun but with depth.