num_pages: 514
description: After a childhood moving from one academic outpost to another with her father (a man prone to aphorisms and meteoric affairs), Blue is clever, deadpan, and possessed of a vast lexicon of literary, political, philosophical, and scientific knowledge—and is quite the cineaste to boot. In her final year of high school at the elite (and unusual) St. Gallway School in Stockton, North Carolina, Blue falls in with a charismatic group of friends and their captivating teacher, Hannah Schneider. But when the drowning of one of Hannah's friends and the shocking death of Hannah herself lead to a confluence of mysteries, Blue is left to make sense of it all with only her gimlet-eyed instincts and cultural references to guide—or misguide—her.Special Topics in Calamity Physics is a darkly hilarious coming-of-age novel and a richly plotted suspense tale told through the distinctive voice of its heroine, Blue van Meer.
language: English
title: Special Topics in Calamity Physics
titlecomplete: Special Topics in Calamity Physics
characters: Natasha Alicia Bridges van Meer, Victor Moats, Violet May Martinez, Ms. Gershon, Howie Valerio, Alfred Johnson, Jefferson Whitestone, Fayonette Harper, Andreo Verduga, Norvel Owen, Wilson Gnut, Frank Fletcher, Ms. Simpson, Eugenia Sturds, Blue van Meer, Arnie Sanderson, Smoke Wyannoch Harvey, Roy Withers, Pa Havermeyer, Lonny Felix, Lee Sanjay Song
genres: Coming Of Age, Literary Fiction, Novels, Young Adult, Literature, Adult, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 46587
places: Stockton, North Carolina
awards: awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: John Sargent, Sr. First Novel Prize, awardedAt: 1136102400000
name: The Center for Fiction, awardedAt: 1167638400000
name: PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
publisher: Penguin Books Ltd