It's All Your Fault

by Paul Rudnick

Overview

"Paul Rudnick makes me lie hysterical on the floor, screeching with laughter and sobbing with fury that I can't write the way he does." -- E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
 
My name is Caitlin and up until forty-eight hours ago I had never:
 
Tasted alcohol, kissed a boy, sang in public at the top of my lungs, kidnapped anyone or -- WHAT? STOLEN A CONVERTIBLE?
 
Now I'm in jail and I have no idea what I'm going to tell:
 
The police, my parents, the mayor, all of those camera crews and everyone on Twitter.
 
I have just noticed that:
 
My nose is pierced and I have-WAIT? IS THAT A TATTOO?
 
I blame one person for this entire insane weekend:
 
My famous cousin.
 
Who is also my former best friend.
 
Who I have HATED for the past four years.
 
Who I miss like crazy. NO I DON'T!!!!
 
IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, HELLER HARRIGAN!!!!
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545464284
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	01/26/2016
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	1090L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Paul Rudnick is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. His screenplays include Addams Family Values and In&Out, and he's written for Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, Vanity Fair, and the New Yorker. His plays have been produced both on and off Broadway and around the world and include I Hate Hamlet and Jeffrey. His first young adult novel was Gorgeous, which Libba Bray for the New York Times called "a wicked good time." Under the pen name Libby Gelman-Waxner, he is also the world's most beloved and irresponsible film critic. Paul lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

10/26/2015
Heller Harrigan, a troubled teen star made famous in a Hannah Montana-like TV show, is about to make her big-screen debut in a film based on a YA novel, one that sounds like an angel-themed mashup of Twilight and The Hunger Games. Her homeschooled cousin Catey, a 17-year-old naïf in kneesocks, is reluctantly drafted to play chaperone to ensure that just-out-of-rehab Heller gets to the red carpet premiere drug- and scandal-free. Catey, whose family performs as “The Singing Singleberries,” is devoutly Christian and anxiety-ridden, making it a very long 72 hours for both girls, especially since they haven’t spoken since a mysterious falling out years earlier. Improbable hilarity abounds—the girls get in legal trouble, but buy off the judge with tickets to the Angel Wars premiere for his granddaughters Katniss, Hermione, and Bella—as Rudnick skewers celebrity, Brooklyn hipsterdom, YA literature, and much more. Much as in Gorgeous (2013), it’s a whirlwind, laugh-a-minute escapade about a girl swept far outside her comfort zone, with real heart beneath the acid humor. Ages 14–up. Agent: David Kuhn, Kuhn Projects. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Caitlin Mary Prudence Rectitude Singleberry is seventeen, a good Christian girl who sings with her family group and stays out of trouble. Heller Harrigan is her cousin, a reality TV personality and star of the soon-to-be-released Angel Wars movie, which will hopefully be the next Hunger Games. Catey’s task is to keep Heller out of trouble for the opening weekend publicity rounds so that her drama does not overshadow the movie. Heller and Catey used to be very close, but something happened four years ago that drove them apart. Catey suffers from anxiety disorder and does not seem to be the best person for the job, but her mom and aunt convince her to try. Car theft, breaking and entering, tattoos, and social media are only a few of the problems in this comedy of errors. The humor is broad, but there is also a strong sense of family and caring amid the slapstick. Runick obviously knows his way around Hollywood. He has some fun at the expense of Catey’s very conservative beliefs, but is not disrespectful towards them. If readers are hoping for a serious look at the risks of a young celebrity in a social media age, this may not be the book, but Rudnick does not take Heller’s alcoholism or the dangers in her life lightly. Give this book to fans of Clique by Lisi Harrison (Little, Brown, 2004/Voya October 2004) and similar girl novels. Reviewer: Suzanne Libra; Ages 11 to 18.

VOYA, December 2015 (Vol. 38, No. 5) - Suzanne Libra

★ 2015-10-14
Caitlin Mary Prudence Rectitude Singleberry leads a wholesome, home-schooled life in Parsippany, New Jersey, and enjoys performing with her family (the Singing Singleberries) while waiting to hear from the 12 colleges she's applied to, so what is she doing in jail with her nose pierced, neon hair, and a tattoo? Caitlin blames her cousin Heller Harrigan, who, unlike Caitlin, wasn't raised in a happy, two-parent Christian family but by a ditzy single mother who's changed her name from Nancy to Ecstasy. Until five years ago, the girls were best friends, but Caitlin hasn't seen Heller since, after achieving TV stardom in her tweens, she landed the coveted role of Lynnea in four film adaptations of the blockbuster bestselling Angel Wars trilogy. Celebrity pressures have taken a toll on Heller, just back from four months of rehab. Caitlin, who subdues her crippling anxiety and panic attacks with silent rituals, agrees to keep Heller out of trouble during the movie's premiere weekend in New York and the day Heller's going to spend with a young cancer patient. While reforming Heller, Caitlin intends to settle a few scores. What ensues is a culture clash on steroids. Rudnick's affection for his flawed characters lends emotional depth to the skillful satire. Targets skewered include the symbiotic culture of narcissism binding celebrities and their fans, teen literary clichés, and Brooklyn. Hilarious, irresistible, and oh so timely. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for It's All Your Fault:

“Paul Rudnick is one of the funniest people out there and he's on fire with It's All Your Fault. This book is as fun and crazy as a wild night out. I had to know what happened next.” – Andy Cohen, host of Watch What Happens Live and New York Times bestselling author of The Andy Cohen Diaries: A Deep Look at a Shallow Year

“Caution: Do not read in public. Will cause you to laugh (and possibly cry) out loud, sometimes at the same time. Screamingly funny and yet warmly touching. Buy multiple copies: You'll want to share this one with friends.” – Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries and Mediator series

*“A culture clash on steroids. Rudnick's affection for his flawed characters lends emotional depth to the skillful satire. Targets skewered include the symbiotic culture of narcissism binding celebrities and their fans, teen literary clichés, and Brooklyn. Hilarious, irresistible, and oh so timely.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A laugh-out-loud, irreverent tale built on as much snarkiness as sweetness. Rudnick expertly melds the good and the bad of youth and Hollywood without going unbelievably over the edge. Eschewing common sense and exhibiting a great deal of heart, this is one riotously good read.” – Booklist

“A whirlwind, laugh-a-minute escapade about a girl swept far outside her comfort zone, with real heart beneath the acid humor.” – Publishers Weekly

Praise for Gorgeous:

"Gleefully wacky and irreverent . . . readers are treated to Rudnick's considerable talents as a satirist as he uproariously eviscerates our celebrity-mad, class-conscious, appearance-obsessed, reality-TV-vapid culture with puckish delight . . . a wicked good time, with moments both outlandish and touching. And as a summer beach read? Well, it's perfect." -- Libba Bray, New York Times Book Review

"When I wasn't laughing out loud (which was often), I was wiping away a tiny tear."
-- Meg Cabot, bestselling author of The Princess Diaries series

"Paul Rudnick is a champion of truth and love and great wicked humor, whom we ignore at our peril." -- David Sedaris, bestselling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day

"Rudnick's first Y.A. novel is full of magic, snark, style, heart, and hilarity." -- The Atlantic Wire

Huffington Post's Five Things We're Into This Week

"Paul Rudnick's generous, open heart, scathing wit, encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture and droll humor are all in force in his latest creation, Gorgeous, which is aptly named. I absolutely adored this book and snort-laughed through the entire thing. You will too." -- Melissa de la Cruz, bestselling author of the Blue Bloods series

"Paul Rudnick's young adult debut, Gorgeous, is not a fairy tale. "Because in real life, fairy tales always end badly." What it is is a satire sharp as a stiletto heel that takes on celebrity culture, the fashion industry, consumerism, and princess stories. Oh, and it's wickedly hilarious." -- Boston Globe

*"With writing that's hilarious, profane, and profound (often within a single sentence), Rudnick casts a knowing eye on our obsession with fame, brand names, and royalty to create a feel-good story about getting what you want without letting beauty blind you to what's real." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Acute, wickedly funny observations on appearance and identity punctuate this sprawling, caustic fairy tale that cheerfully skewers the fashion and film worlds and their celebrity-culture spawn. . . . A Cinderella story with a difference, Becky's journey to reconcile her inner household drudge and outer princess starts where most fairy tales end." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Totally irreverent and wonderfully refreshing." -- RT Book Reviews

From the Publisher

12/01/2017
Gr 7 Up—Seventeen-year-old Caitlin Mary Prudence Rectitude Singleberry is part of a wholesome family singing troupe from Parsippany, NJ, and her cousin Heller Harrigan is about to be a movie star. They haven't spoken in years, since Heller accidentally almost killed Caitlin. In the meantime, Heller has gotten into so much trouble that she must be watched with hawk-like cunning lest she makes more mischief while the world awaits her debut in the most highly anticipated movie of the year. Caitlin's plan is to turn Heller into a sweet, generous, kind, God-fearing, knee sock—wearing image of perfection—like herself. Of course, it is Caitlin who finds love and trouble, but Heller isn't far behind. Stephanie Drake's narration is youthful and sweet. If she sounds a bit more Valley Girl than Morris County miss, it still works. VERDICT Though not unpredictable, the story manages to spring a few surprises. Young adults will enjoy the differences that make both cousins relatable and root-for-able.—Ellen Abrams, New York

School Library Journal