Kate Krugman

I'll Be the Queen, You Be the Monkey Kate Krugman

Kate Krugman paints a powerful portrait of love and conflict between sisters in her coming-of-age novel I'll Be the Queen, You Be the Monkey, a poignant story about family that struggles to cope with a threat to their survival.



Cass knows her sister Bama sees their dad as an alcoholic who wanders drunkenly through the house trying to find the right door. For Cass it's different. She and her dad share the love of music and books. He was her refuge in an alien family. Her world is shattered when he dies.



Cass must learn to navigate life after his abrupt departure-a death she sees as intentional. But the past catches up with her years later, and she learns her father's death wasn't his fault, wasn't because of his drinking and smoking. It was something predetermined-something that's possibly programmed into all of them, including her and her sister.



It's up to Cass to unite the family she fled and convince them to protect themselves. Will she and Bama find enough common ground to rely on each other as they face the future?