Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl

     I am currently reading Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl. The book is brimming with both external and internal conflict.

     About a teenager named Blue van Meer, the book describes the family (herself and her father) the friends (herself and her father) and the life, of an unusual high school senior, which primarily centers around her father and herself-- until she meets Hannah Schneider.

     In the book, Blue agrees with most everything her father (Gareth) says, and, as he is the only parental influence (or any influence) she has, and is also uncommonly brilliant to boot --an accomplished and well known literature figure/ professor/ lecturer/ writer. But when they meet Hannah Schneider, and he thinks she's "commonplace," while she thinks she's "elegant, with a romantic face."

     This is the first of many clashes between the two van Meers.

     Blue evolves over the book, and gradually is illuminated to her father's (many) flaws.

     And with realizing his flaws, comes shaping her own life. She goes to a dance with a boy her father doesn't like, makes friends with kids who sneak into adult parties, and becomes part of Hannah Schneider's "group."

     Her issues with him all come to a beaming climax when it is revealed that he's having an affair with one of her teachers, Eva (she finds out when the angry Eva Brewster breaks into their house, suspicious Gareth is cheating.)
   
     In the book, Blue begins to rely on her father less, and put more trust in herself, and her views. She begins to develop her own personality, away from the sphere of influence of her influential dad. She comes into herself, and, in some parts of the book, it is astory of self discovery-- finding the Blue van Meer amongst the sea of Gareth.