Pest

Hallie Mayhew is a high school senior who spends her days spraying ant poison, working for her dad's pest control company, her mom's pond cleaning service, and a tourist hotspot in Santa Barbara. She wants to win the prestigious Verhaag Scholarship to go to an east coast school, but her parking lot nemesis has usurped the Yearbook Committee, and her Montecito clients are in a defensive frenzy over a rash of estate burglaries. She is forced to enlist the help of Spencer Salazar, the dim, infuriating (and kinda hot) rich kid next door, to win the scholarship.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 05 April 2022
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company

High school senior Hallie Mayhew spends her days traversing from one lavish Montecito estate to the next, diligently spraying ant poison as part of her duties at her father's pest control company. Alongside her parents' respective businesses, Hallie also works at a popular tourist hotspot in Santa Barbara, actively contributing to her family's working-class livelihood. However, Hallie harbours reservations about employing chemical methods to eliminate gophers. She grows weary of sacrificing time with friends to remove dead fish from fountains and becomes disenchanted with the constant dynamics of divorced-parent politics. Consequently, Hallie hatches a strategic plan: to secure the prestigious Verhaag Scholarship, attend an east coast school, and bid farewell to her hometown forever.

However, the Verhaag Scholarship boasts a distinguished legacy of nepotism, and a sudden emergence of a rival candidate has thrown a wrench into Hallie's plans. Her parking lot nemesis has assumed control of the Yearbook Committee, depriving her of her sole extracurricular credit. Furthermore, the Montecito clients she serves are on high alert due to a series of estate burglaries, and if Hallie's tardiness persists, she may risk not graduating.

With her college aspirations rapidly derailing, Hallie finds herself compelled to seek the assistance of Spencer Salazar, the dim, infuriating (yet undeniably attractive) rich kid residing next door. Hallie is willing to go to any lengths to secure the scholarship, but her various side gigs are creating a complex web that threatens to trap her in Santa Barbara indefinitely. As she reflects on her situation, she begins to question whether she has misjudged the boy next door.

Weight: 248g
Dimension: 140 x 215 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781684428120