I'm SO pleased to be part of the blog tour for The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, a twisty, witty (twitty?) Washington, D.C. tale of intrigue, politics, scandal, mystery, and the most intriguingly political scandalous mystery of all--family. It's the perfect blend of Veronica Mars and Scandal, and I adored reading it heaps and bunches. I'm honored to have the author herself, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, on the blog today to talk of a time when SHE would have loved to have had a fixer in high school.
And now, Jennifer!
The FIXER Challenge
“You’re telling me that my sister is a professional problem solver?” I asked tightly. “She just goes around, solving other people’s problems? How is that even an occupation?”
“Supply and demand?” Vivvie suggested. “Around here, we call them fixers.”
When my protagonist, Tess Kendrick, moves to Washington DC, she has no idea that her older sister is the person to go to in Washington if you have a fire that needs to be put out or a secret that needs to be buried. The famed Ivy Kendrick can fix any problem for a price. And, due to an unfortunate incident on her first day of school, Tess inadvertently develops a reputation for being a chip off of the old block. Soon, students at her elite private school are coming to her for help.
In honor of THE FIXER’s release, I’m challenging readers try their hands at being a fixer. And I thought it would be doubly fun (and also: personally embarrassing) if the problems you guys had the opportunity to suggest fixes for really happened to me in high school.
So, without further ado, I present to you…
THE CASE OF THE WHITE-BOARD SCRIBBLES
My freshman year in high school, the school decided to prevent students from writing on the underside of the tables in the Commons by installing white boards under the tables and letting people write whatever they wanted, so long as they wrote it in dry-erase marker. At this point, I’d been at the school less than a month. I was a little on the shy side, but friendly, and as far as I knew, I hadn’t made any enemies.
One day, I was lying under the table in freshman corner (as people did), reading the white board notes, and I saw the words JENNIFER IS A BITCH written in loopy script. Now, the freshman class had multiple people named Jennifer in it, so it could have been about someone else, but the other Jennifers went by Jenn and Jenna respectively, and at the time, I went by Jennifer. There were other Jennifers at the school, of course, but the note was written on the table in freshman corner. I had no idea if it was about me or not, and if it WAS about me, I had no idea what I could have possibly done to upset someone, or who I could have possibly upset! Did someone out there secretly hate me? And if so, why?
These are the questions that haunted little freshman Jen. So, for my second FIXER challenge, here is the assignment. Imagine that you, like Tess, are a high school fixer. Freshman Jen comes to you, tells you about the white board message, and asks you to get to the bottom of it. What do you do?
About the book:
When sixteen-year-old Tess Kendrick is sent to live with her older sister, Ivy, she has no idea that the infamous Ivy Kendrick is Washington D.C.'s #1 “fixer,” known for making politicians’ scandals go away for a price. No sooner does Tess enroll at Hardwicke Academy than she unwittingly follows in her sister’s footsteps and becomes D.C.’s premier high school fixer, solving problems for elite teens.
Secrets pile up as each sister lives a double life. . . . until their worlds come crashing together and Tess finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy with one of her classmates and a client of Ivy’s. Suddenly, there is much more on the line than good grades, money, or politics, and the price for this fix might be more than Tess is willing to pay.
Perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars and Heist Society, readers will be clamoring for more in this exciting new series.
About the author:
Jennifer Lynn Barnes has written several acclaimed young adult novels, including the Raised by Wolves and the Naturals series. She has advanced degrees in psychology, psychiatry, and cognitive science. She received her PhD from Yale University and is now a professor in psychology. www.jenniferlynnbarnes.com
@jenlynnbarnes
The rest of the blog tour:
July 7
Reading Teen
July 8
The Young Folks
July 9
YA Romantics
July 10
The Quiet Concert
July 13
Fiction Freak
July 14
Writing My Own Fairytale
July 15
Teen Librarian Toolbox
July 16
Writer of Wrongs (ME OBVS)
July 17
Reader of Fictions
Thanks to the lovely folks at Bloomsbury, I have one finished copy of The Fixer to give away to one US resident!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posts
Hmm...good question! I think I would find a way to look at written homework that was turned in for Freshman classes (a diversion of some sorts may or may not be needed) to see if any of the handwriting matches the note on the whiteboard. Or, more simply, I would just come up with an excuse to get freshman to sign something (petition, get well card, etc.) and compare that handwriting.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would check against other handwriting samples. But handwriting can also be easily masked so I'd also watch who sat at that table, maybe some other students had taken pictures with their cell phones in the commons, and try to get close to them.
ReplyDeleteThe Fixer sounds fabulous, thanks for the giveaway!
Ann S
no idea
ReplyDeleteI'd reply with sass or something, and below the note, I'd write "Which Jennifer? Be more specific next time!"
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't try particularly hard to identify the perpetrator. In my experience, pot-stirrers can't stand to be ignored. So I'd advise my client to do exactly that. In addition, I'd take a page from Operation Beautiful and enlist my client and all of her friends (and their friends) to write at least one positive thing about a different classmate each day. "Jessica is a track star ... she almost flies!" "Ashley is awesome at algebra ... she helped me bring up my grade!" "Have u seen Jennifer spike a volleyball? DAY-UM!" "Amanda's sweeter than the delish cookies she made for the bake sale!" "Math nerd Sarah = 'radical' rock star"
ReplyDeleteNot sure. First, perhaps bring it to the attention of the other Jennifers...separately, of course, to see reaction: "Just want you to know, that I don't believe what people are writing about you." Then maybe casually ask people: "Can you believe how awful Jennifer is?" to see reactions. If no success or admissions, then back to the white board, I guess & I don't know.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness! How horrible! Well, I went to a pretty small school, so it would be pretty easy to ask around to a few key people to get down to the bottom of it. So that is probably what I would do.
ReplyDeleteThere were 4000+ students in my school, so figuring out who was it would've been hard. I did have a classmate that would call a friend and sometimes myself as well Bitch, so we started calling him Golden Locks.
ReplyDeleteWell.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought would probably cause more problems than it would solve.
...
BUT IN FICTION, where that is ENCOURAGED, I would add a last name on to keep my client's reputation pristine. For added deviancy, it would be the last name of a different existing Jennifer.
Problems:
Relies on spacing of original note.
Mimicking the handwriting.
Not actually knowing the writer/cause behind note.
Some people probably already saw it, free of a last name.
I guess if the original writer saw the addition and tried to change it back/verbally tell people about it...that would be a way to track them down?
...
I should probably stick to fiction, where I can stack the odds.
I would convince my self that it is not me whose name on the board, since I've done no wrong. Then I' erase it , because it is not nice to call somebody such names, and nobody deserve it.
ReplyDelete