This book is a 2006 Cybil Award Nominee for YA Fiction.
Jas Callihan is seventeen, and she believes that everyone has a super power. Really. Her 25-year-old stepmother's (that's right - STEPmother) has a super power for not making people mad -- which is miraculous, since most people would in fact be pretty steamed to have a stepmother only nine years older than they are. Unfortunately, Jasmine's superpower is for being in the totally wrong place at the totally, TOTALLY wrong time. She can't believe it -- even though she's on VACATION in Las Vegas, doing nothing more exciting than sunning herself on a lounge and eyeing a hot guy named Jack across from her at the pool, she totally ruins a wedding, gets attacked by a mad, three-legged cat, and gets arrested by hotel security while in her bikini. For basically doing nothing!
Okay, so she sort of kidnaps the cat. But the little kid said.... Oh, wait. Right. It's not all that bright to do what little kids say. I mean, who knows what they're talking about, right? It's better to sleuth out the facts yourself.
A Fabio-esque guy in Speedos -- with a gun, crazy best buds Polly, Roxy and Tom, an evil (and ditzy) cousin, and one Bad Kitty take Jasmine's Las Vegas vacation over the top. This is a silly, fun, fast-paced fluff read with fast-paced, sardonic dialogue and amusing footnotes. And a BeDazzler. Because you've got to understand, no mystery is complete without rhinestoned disguises. Even if your vacations never include murder mysteries, this is a reasonable "beach book bag" read. Though at times in this wacky, surreal, lightweight mystery it's hard to believe or take seriously the idea that someone has died, it is still as uncomplicated and enjoyable as cotton candy.
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