Publication Date: January 2012
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Fourteen-year-old Kentucky girl Ricki Jo Winstead, who would prefer to be called Ericka, thank you very much, is eager to shed her farmer's daughter roots and become part of the popular crowd at her small-town high school. She trades her Bible for Seventeen magazine, buys new "sophisticated" clothes, and somehow manages to secure a tenuous spot at the cool kids' table. She's on top of the world, even though her best friend and the boy next door, Luke, says he misses "plain old Ricki Jo."
Caught between being a country girl and a wannabe country club girl, Ricki Jo begins to forget who she truly is: someone who doesn't care what people think and who wouldn't let a good-looking guy walk all over her. It takes a serious incident on Luke's farm for Ricki Jo to realize that being a true friend is more important than being popular.
The Queen of Kentucky was optioned for a motion picture by Unbridled Films and is being produced by Permut Productions. Read about the deal in Variety.
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"Reading Alecia Whitaker's funny and sweet debut was like spending time with my best friend. Ricki Jo Winstead totally won me over, and she'll win you over, too."
- Joanna Philbin, author of The Daughters novels
"Whitaker's debut sparkles as she takes the reader on a tour of two unforgettable places: small town Kentucky and the heart of our charming and hilarious narrator, Ricki Jo."
- Gwendolyn Heasley, author of Where I Belong
"Set in small-town Kentucky, this coming-of-age story depicts the ups and downs of 14-year-old Ricki Jo Winstead as she tries on a new identity. High school is about to start, and Ricki Jo seizes the opportunity to reinvent herself. The first thing she
does is ditch her “plain ol” name, taking on the new, more sophisticated (to her ears) moniker of Ericka. Swiftly getting the lay of the high-school land, Ricki Jo decides that she wants to move with the popular girls. She tries out for cheerleading rather than band, buys hipper clothing, and jettisons the real Bible for that subversive gospel according to Seventeen. Her new friends are a little faster than she’s used to, and she begins a rather daring (for her) flirtation with the handsome-and-he-knows-it David Wolfenbaker. All these changes displease her neighbor and best friend, Luke Foster, a grounded guy who is struggling with the more serious issue of his father’s alcoholism and abuse. In her debut, Whitaker paints a vivid, finely detailed picture of life in the sometime-hardscrabble heartland. But what draws the reader in is the chaotic precision of her characters, youngsters who are conflicted and frequently inconsistent, yet feel rounded and real. Solid, just like its setting."
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- Kirkus
"Fourteen-year-old Ricki Jo has lived in the same Kentucky farming town her whole life, right next door to her best friend Luke. But she’s still the new girl, of sorts, on the first day of high school, having previously attended a small Catholic school.
Renaming herself Ericka and hoping to become popular, she tries to fit in with a group of cool girls from homeroom and develops a crush on cocky fellow freshman Wolf. Ericka’s honest and insecure voice, her penchant for mishaps, and her frustration with her boyish physique will easily resonate with similarly conflicted readers. Debut novelist Whitaker paints a rich picture of life in rural Kentucky, as Ericka struggles to maintain tenuous friendships as well as her moral center. The subplot of Luke’s alcoholic and abusive father rings painfully true, as does Ericka’s ongoing crush on Wolf, who is alternately cruel and flirtatious with her, putting her self-worth through the wringer again and again. This coming-of-age romance holds few surprises, but will capture readers with its honesty and heart."
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- Publisher's Weekly
"A fantastic debut. Whitaker´s greatest strength is her unbelievable accuracy—she clearly remembers what it was like to be a skinny, awkward freshman dying to fit in. Her true-to-life descriptions of sleepover parties, school dances and cheerleading tryouts
in rural Kentucky are masterful. This is contemporary YA at its very best—adorable, funny and perfectly relatable."
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- Romantic Times Magazine
"One day she’s Ricki Jo, helping bring in her neighbor Luke’s tobacco crop. The next she’s Ericka, trying to get in with the in crowd as a high-school freshman. Though she’s lived in the area all her life, Ericka went to a small Catholic school
so most of the kids are new to her. It takes only a short time for her to fall for Wolf, the devilishly cute boy; make friends,maybe, with some of the cooler girls; and begin to alienate her old pals like Luke. This is familar territory, but Whitaker’s setting is fresh, and readers from rural areas will recognize the class differences, especially between new money and farming families. Along with teen concerns like dating, drinking, and cheating, other serious issues are raised. Luke’s father is a vicious drunk, and Luke has to decide what he can or will do about it. Ericka’s first-person voice is sassy and quite believable as she tries to figure out who she is—and who everybody else is, too."
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- Booklist
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