YA novel Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke

This book is set to be published in early January, 2018.

Seventeen year old Jane Sinner has just been kicked out of high school, months before graduation. Now at the local community college to grudgingly earn the rest of her high school diploma, Jane stumbles on an offer to be part of a 'big brother style' reality show while living at a local house. Anxious to be away from her parents, create a new identity not tied to her past major mistake, as well as win the used VW car that's the grand prize for winning the show, Jane claims she's 18 and signs up for the reality TV show 'House of Orange.' 

Jane's younger sister Carol, who idolizes Jane, is crushed, but Jane promises (and sometimes comes through) to visit often. Jane is a snarky, self-loathing, and often hilarious character with plenty of flaws.  At times it seems like she is nothing but flaws as she tries to adapt to life on-camera and away from home. She guards the reason for her expulsion from high school, at first revealing only that she hurt everyone around her with what she did. 

The novel is set in Canada, near Calgary, and one of the first things American teens will notice is that the legal drinking age is 18 in Canada. All of Jane's friends other than Jane's younger sister are old enough to drink, and do so regularly in the book. The drinking is so prevalent and regular that I'll likely only recommend the book to readers 16 and older. Author Lianne Oelke struggles at times to keep Jane's snarky humor relevant; at times we can feel the author's hand working too hard to make Jane funny. 

Where Oelke succeeds is in Jane's struggles to overcome her past, even as she continues to make mistakes that put all of her new friends in jeapordy. Students who love the drama and politics of reality TV shows like Survivor will enjoy the insider's look at a small-time community college version of reality TV. Snarky teens everywhere will relate to the wonderful Jane Sinner.