About 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER:
Being America’s favorite heiress is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Which is why, on Lexi’s eighteenth birthday, her ever-absent, tycoon father decides to take a more proactive approach to her wayward life. Every week for the next year, she will have to take on a different low-wage job if she ever wants to receive her beloved trust fund. But if there’s anything worse than working as a maid, a dishwasher, and a fast-food restaurant employee, it’s dealing with Luke, the arrogant, albeit moderately attractive, college intern her father has assigned to keep tabs on her.
In a hilarious “comedy of heiress” about family, forgiveness, good intentions, and best of all, second chances, Lexi learns that love can be unconditional, money can be immaterial, and, regardless of age, everyone needs a little saving. And although she might have 52 reasons to hate her father, she only needs one reason to love him.
About the author:
Jessica Brody is the bestselling author of The Karma Club and My Life Undecided, as well as two books for adults: The Fidelity Files and Love Under Cover. In researching this book, she took on several minimum wage jobs, her favorite of which was working the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant. She splits her time between California and Colorado. Visit her online at: www.jessicabrody.com Q: What inspired you to write this book?
Jessica: Actually it’s kind of a funny story. I was sitting in my car, watching a meter maid write someone a parking ticket and I thought, “Wouldn’t it be fun to be a meter maid? But only for like a week. Just to see what it was like.” Then I start to brainstorm all these other jobs I’d like to do for one week. And I decided, “Well, I’m too busy writing novels to actually do all these jobs, so I guess I’ll just have to write a book about someone else who does them.” And then I tried to think of the funniest character to put in that kind of situation and the answer was instant: a spoiled heiress who has never had to work a day in her life. And alas, Lexington Larrabee was born. But really the joke’s on me, because in researching the story, I actually did take on some of the jobs that are in the book! My favorite was working the drive-thru at a fast food restaurant. Those head-sets you have to wear are like something out of Star Trek!
Q: If there was a soundtrack for your book what are five songs that would be on it and how do they relate the story?
Jessica: Well, I spend a lot of time choosing the right music for my book trailers, so I’m going to have to go ahead and use the music from there. One song in particular stands out to me. It’s the song at the end of the trailer called “Life in Reverse” by Time Will Tell. It’s all about someone wishing they could go back and change what life has brought them. And this PERFECTLY summarizes the way Lexi feels through most of the book.
Q: In addition to writing books, I also write for a website for teens called Rookie, which has a regular feature called "Literally The Best Thing Ever," wherein we write about a thing that we think is super mega awesome (even if it is the type of thing that others might call a guilty pleasure, we believe there is nothing guilty about pleasure!) and explain why we think it is literally the best thing ever. It's generally a kind of unexpected thing, for example I wrote one about the soap opera, One Life To Live. I don't expect you to write a whole essay obviously, but can you briefly tell us what either you or your character (or both!) would say is "Literally The Best Thing Ever" and why?
Jessica: Lately I’ve become OBSESSED with these delicious dark chocolate covered almonds with sea salt and turbinado sugar from Trader Joe’s. And when I become obsessed, I become obsessed. Case in point: A friend turned me onto these delicious little pieces of heaven and shortly after, Trader Joe’s completely ran out of them. And I’m not just talking my Trader Joe’s. I’m talking ALL Trader Joe’s in the Los Angeles area. How do I know this, well I pretty much drove to all of them (like I said, obsessive personality over here!) I almost considered buying them on eBay where people were selling them for like 20 bucks a box. But I refrained after one of the TJs employees ensured me they would be coming in soon. They did, in fact, finally stock them again and I bought like 10 boxes just to be sure I was safe should another shortage present itself.
Q: What are you working on for us next?
Jessica: Last year I signed a four book deal with my publisher, Macmillan Children’s, and I just turned in the first of those books! It’s the first installment in a new YA sci-fi/thriller trilogy called UNREMEMBERED. It’s about a sixteen-year-old girl who wakes up among the wreckage of a devastating plane crash. She’s the only survivor but she has no memories and identity. The only clue to her past is a mysterious boy who claims they were in love and that she was part of a top secret science experiment. It’s kind of like a Bourne Identity for teens. I’m really excited about it because the genre is totally new to me and writing the first book was so much fun! Plus, it’s my first crack at writing a series so that presents a whole new set of fun challenges. The first book is set to release in early 2013.
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