Addie Sinclair: Rumour du Jour (Addie Sinclair: Cul de Sac Moon) Paperback – September 19, 2013

Kimberly Clarke returns yet again, with another adventure for Addie Sinclair to wade her way through. Full of subtle hints, confusing actions, this novel captures reality, then puts it in a blender and squeezes out the best stuff to get a delicious juice well worth the read! And this time around- Clarke ends up changing things up for an ending that will shock the reader!This is truly a book of change, as it begins with Miss Sinclair receiving wonderful news! Her theatre rival has gotten a modeling job and will be unable to play the part of Lucy in the school play! Why is the wonderful? Because Addie is chosen to get the part! In the process, she meets ben, Lucy's father and rock star- who chooses not to capitalize his name. Thrilled, and after a quick trip home to talk to the moon and think, Addie accepts the part, but due to two small miscalculations, gets hit by a car. Cue one night in the hospital and a minor concussion. The next day, still discombobulated, Addie ends up accepting a ride from ben, and catching the interest of former-best-friend-Lindsay who sees Addie as her 'in' to get a rock star date for the prom- in two years. In the meantime, Addie's 16th birthday comes and passes- without so much as a glimmer of recognition from anyone! Fortunately, her father says he will take her out to dinner the next morning- but when Addie and Bernerd get to the restaurant- they find themselves fatherless- so Bernerd calls Sigge, and they come to Addie's rescue, helping not only to make the un-birthday awesome, but rekindling their relationship after the 'Eric' fiasco. But, the night changes for the worse when Addie gets home- and figures out why her father forgot her birthday, he was busy dancing with a female co-worker. In their living room. Needless to say, Addie runs away again. Refusing to go to Sigge and ruin the spectacular b-day fest, she goes to the coffee shop, and after getting in a precarious predicament, nearly spends the night at Lindsay's house, but bails when she realizes that the former-friend doesn't have her best interests at heart. Afterwards, Addie discovers that not only is her mother, who is still in rehab not going to be able to return for Christmas- but her father is going to Cuba- with OR without her! And she seems to run into ben almost everywhere she goes- and also ends up frequently accepting rides, which only serve to heighten Lindsay's curiosity. Determined to make the best of things, Addie decides to stay home and start decorating. She invites Sigge over for some Christmas cookie-tasting, and Lindsay arrives uninvited with a magazine, in which Lola is modeling. Sigge starts acting odd, and ends up rushing out, taking the magazine with her, leaving Addie to fend for herself. All this is on top of trying to rehearse for the play, and write a 'love letter' for homework. Something that gets even more complicated after she 1. asks Bernerd(indirectly) for advice, and then 2.he kisses her. Shortly after this inner turmoil, Sigge arrives to explain her actions- and reveals that Addie and Lola look extremely similar, and brings up the fact that ben used to live in Silverwoods. This causes Addie to question her parentage- and reach for the vodka bottle herself. The book then climaxes as she calls her aunt Laura, ends up getting her mother, who happens to be on a day-pass visit from rehab- and they come straight to her house, while at the same time ben arrives to check on her- and accuses Addie's mother of bad parenting right before Addie asks which two of the people in the room are her parents.Full of suspense, this book saves its best scene for last, and may not be recommended for people with high blood pressure. It cuts out so suddenly, and leaves you hungry, not wanting, but NEEDING more- Clarke works her craft to excellency. Rock star ben's lower-cap name is just enough to make him seem like a rock star, while his interactions with Addie prove he's a normal guy. There's just enough creepy vs nice adult in him to make the reader never quite sure of his intentions, or his interest in Addie. At one point, Lindsay even comments that she believes Addie is dating him, to which Addie is understandably horrified. The book, as always, deals with the most serious of concerns with humour and flippancy, and has Addie deal with one of the most difficult questions of all- what if her parents, weren't her parents? A great read, to be sure. Five stars.