With surname like hers, the young heroine in Lianne Oelke’s debut novel, Nice Try, Jane Sinner, certainly has good reason to have, when it hits, a crisis of identity regarding her faith in light of her family’s strong religious beliefs. Feeling like a fraud, Jane makes a failed but public attempt at ending it all, only to find herself still alive and politely asked to leave her high school so she won’t provide a bad example to her fellow students.

Determined to somehow make a new start and find her true self, Jane reluctantly enrolls in the ersatz Elbow River Community College and auditions for a reality show in which, to her surprise, she is cast. Called “House of Orange” in homage to the vintage orange shag carpeting in the house, the online competition features other quirky characters vying to win money and a car by outlasting each other: the last resident wins. Under the constant scrutiny of the HOO camera crew and the student producer, Jane keeps a journal of her progress and her tactics to survive, sparing herself nothing in the way of truth. Her journey is engrossing and humorous, taking the reader along for the bumpy ride of finding love, her voice, her backbone, her hope and herself.

Set in Canada, this book is satisfying, worthwhile and highly recommended for Young Adult readers ages 14 and up.