Very Bad People
By Kit Frick
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Releasing on April 5th, 2022
Murder Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Boarding School Mystery
First editions have an exclusive foil design underneath the jacket!
In this dark academia young adult thriller for fans of The Female of the Species and People Like Us, a teen girl’s search for answers about her mother’s mysterious death leads to a powerful secret society at her new boarding school—and a dangerous game of revenge that will leave her forever changed.
Six years ago, Calliope Bolan’s mother drove the family van into a lake with her three daughters inside. The girls escaped, but their mother drowned, and the truth behind the “accident” remains a mystery Calliope is determined to solve. Now sixteen, she transfers to Tipton Academy, the same elite boarding school her mother once attended. Tipton promises a peek into the past and a host of new opportunities—including a coveted invitation to join Haunt and Rail, an exclusive secret society that looms over campus like a legend.
Calliope accepts, stepping into the exhilarating world of the “ghosts,” a society of revolutionaries fighting for social justice. But when Haunt and Rail commits to exposing a dangerous person on campus, it becomes clear that some ghosts define justice differently than others.
As the society’s tactics escalate, Calliope uncovers a possible link between Haunt and Rail and her mother’s deadly crash. Now, she must question what lengths the society might go to in order to see a victory—and if the secret behind her mother’s death could be buried here at Tipton.
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Can you tell us a bit about yourself and Very Bad People?
Absolutely! I’m a poet-turned-novelist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who lived in New York (City and upstate) for nearly two decades before returning to my hometown—and in fact to the house I grew up in—in 2019. I’m addicted to thrillers, podcasts, and mint chocolate chip ice cream.
As for Very Bad People, I’ll give you the official elevator pitch, then a few reasons to read it!
A teen girl’s search for answers about her mother’s mysterious death leads to a powerful secret society at her new boarding school—and a dangerous game of revenge that will leave her forever changed.
On a less official note, if you’re a sucker for the following, Very Bad People should be up your alley:
*dark academia
*sister drama
*secret societies
*dark family secrets
*first love
*mysterious letters
*moral quandaries
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If you could get your book into the hands of one person, who would it be and why?
I think Very Bad People will be a great fit for all teens and YA readers who enjoy a good mystery, but I’d specifically love to see it land with readers who have struggled with fitting in at home or at school and readers who have been burdened with keeping a really hard secret. I think the story will have a special resonance for those teens in particular!
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Is there a certain place in your book you wish you could visit?
Heck, yes! I’d love to hang out in the Haunt and Rail Society clubhouse, in the basement of the Tipton Academy library. I had such fun dreaming up the whole boarding school campus and all its nooks and crannies, but seeing that campus setting in particular brought to life would be very, very cool.
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Are there any characters in your books based on people you know or have met in real life?
Not in specific ways; I’m pretty careful to not paint characters too closely to IRL folks, but that being said, many of my characters are part fiction and part combinations of several people from real life. For example, a best friend character might incorporate quirks or features of several real-life friends, but then I’ll put an entirely fictional spin on it.
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What would you say is an interesting author quirk you have?
I’m so basic lol. I write best in the mornings, at home, on my couch, in silence, surrounded by one to three of my animals (two cats and a Chiweenie).
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Out of all the characters in Very Bad People, which do you wish was a real person and why?
Nico, for sure! Oh man, by the end of the book, I’d love to have a sit-down with Nico about what he really thinks about Calliope, the ghosts, and everything at Tipton. I can’t say more because ~spoilers~ but that would be a gut-punch of a conversation.
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Is there a specific theme in your book that you can easily point out?
Very Bad People tackles big questions about right and wrong, but it doesn’t offer up easy answers. Privilege is a theme, as is morality, and revenge, and the pressure to “do the right thing” when the right thing isn’t at all clear.
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What do you hope readers take away/learn about from your book?
Very Bad People is a story about moral gray areas, and I hope it inspires a lot of really chewy discussions among teen readers, book groups, etc. How should the ghost have handled their final campaign? At the end of the book, what would you do in Calliope’s shoes?
Kit Frick is a MacDowell fellow and ITW Thriller Award finalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She studied creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and received her MFA from Syracuse University. The author of the poetry collection A Small Rising Up in the Lungs and the young adult thrillers Before We Were Sorry (originally published as See All the Stars), All Eyes on Us, I Killed Zoe Spanos, and Very Bad People, Kit loves a good mystery but has only ever killed her characters. Honest.
Visit Kit online at KitFrick.com and on Twitter and Instagram @KitFrick.
Blog Tour
March 30
Brinns Books – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
March 31
Beauty & Her Books – Favorite Things About Very Bad People
April 1
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April 3
Kait Plus Books – Mood Board, Character interviews
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March 30
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March 31
@beautynherbooks – Book Review, Favorite Quotes
April 1
Mochas_and_madness15 -Mood Board, Book Review
April 2
@Booksatlu – Book Review
@ravenzreviewz – Favorite Things About Very Bad People
April 3
@Kait Plus Books – Mood Board, Character interviews
April 4
@Modesthiccup – Book Review
April 5
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April 6
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