The Break-Up Artist

February 24, 2014
To most of Becca Williamson’s classmates, she’s just another not-especially-popular member of the Ashland High student body. But to those who reach out to her secret alter ego, she’s a ticket to romantic ruin: as the Break-Up Artist, Becca engineers couples’ downfalls for 100 bucks a pop. Siegel’s debut follows Becca into the ethical morass that has become her life, as she manipulates classmates’ relationships with fake notes to ex-girlfriends, surreptitious text messages, and more. It’s not that Becca’s against love, exactly—she just doesn’t believe these people are truly in love to begin with, and she resents a larger culture in which singles are treated like lepers and girls abandon their best friends for boys. This would all be well and good if it weren’t for Becca’s near-total moral blindness and lack of self-awareness or empathy, especially after she starts hooking up with her best friend’s boyfriend amid her other machinations. Becca learns some hard lessons, but maybe not hard enough. Even as the book ends, she is justifying herself. “I didn’t destroy young love,” she thinks. “I just sped up the inevitable.” Ages 14–up.

April 1, 2014
Breakin' up may be hard to do but not if you get a little help from a cynical teenager who's found a niche market for her special skills. Becca Williamson has spent her high school career going largely unnoticed. All around her, she's seen what love does to people: how her sister was jilted at the altar, how her parents act more like siblings than lovers, and how she lost her old best friend, Huxley, years back when Huxley started dating a popular football player named Steve. Aided by a keen eye and a razor-sharp wit, Becca uses her skills to break up her classmates for profit. One day she receives a mysterious request that asks her to split power-couple Steve and Huxley. Still nursing her old wounds, she accepts. Becca suddenly finds herself immersed in the popular crowd for the first time and wondering if she can really do it--can she ruin her ex-BFF's life? A fun, lighthearted romp with all the makings of a good rom-com, this romantic darling has it all: laughs, intrigue and a healthy dash of love conquering all. Most readers will undoubtedly clamor for more of Becca's adventures, and Siegel indicates she may be back, in a closing Q-and-A. A true chick-lit charmer, ideal for a chilly winter night or a sunny beach chair. (Chick-lit/romance. 12-16)

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July 1, 2014
As the Break-Up Artist, Becca gets paid to split up couples. When she's hired to break up her school's golden couple, however, she begins to question the morality of the job; she faces another ethical dilemma when she develops feelings for her best friends boyfriend. Readers will easily relate to Becca's astute observations about high school popularity, dating, and friendship.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)