Ten Cents a Dance

Ten Cents a Dance, the second novel from Christine Fletcher, is a riveting tale about a 15-year old girl living near the slaughter yards in 1940s Chicago. When her Polish-American father died, her Irish-American mother went to work for a meat-packing house, doing dangerous, thankless work for very little pay to support her daughters. When she is nearly crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, it is up to Ruby to quit school and support her family. Ruby quickly sees that this work will make her old in just a few years and will never earn them enough to get out of debt and poverty and when local bad boy Pauly tells her she could be making $50 bucks a week taxi dancing, Ruby jumps at the chance. But taxi dancing, or dancing with men for ten cents a dance plus tips at a dance hall, is not considered respectable work, and Ruby must hide what she does from her family while providing them with the money they need to improve their lives.

Ruby grows up quickly in this world of men, racism, jazz clubs, and chop suey joints, learning that the only way to make the big money is to reel in the "big fish" who will pay for dinners, clothes, and other luxuries. Ruby has talent and could be the best of the bunch, but is she willing to pay the price to get there?

Interestingly, the author wrote the book after learning that one of her ancestors had worked as a taxi dancer in secret, which led her to research the "ten cents a dance" girls. Rich in period detail, this fascinating and fast-paced novel had me hooked from page one. It has drama, suspense, history, and romance all rolled up into one and this book would certainly get my vote for a Printz award. This is an author to keep your eye on.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

From the always funny E. Lockhart comes her latest novel The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. The title character is one of those smart, sassy heroines you often find in YA novels, who are identifiable, and sort of remind you of a cooler version of yourself. Frankie, at age 14, was a gangly, kinda geeky-but-not-a-social-outcast girl attending the private boarding school her father went to. Frankie at 15 is about to return to her private boarding school with a newly developed body and a self-possession that means she knows what she wants and she's going to go after it. Within no time she's landed a hot senior boyfriend and is hanging with the coolest group of kids in the school. But deep-down, Frankie worries that Matthew only likes her when she's not taking the lead or being the center of attention, and she knows he's keeping a big secret from her. When she can't get him to share his secret all-male society, she decides she will teach these boys a lesson they won't soon forget. Of course, in the process, she begins to lose track of herself, and things don't wind up quite like she'd imagined.

Disreputable is an interesting look at one girl's desire to be one of the boys without losing her femininity or self-respect. While the plot is less dark and traumatic than John Green's Looking for Alaska, the common setting of a private boarding school make for a few interesting parallels. Whether you find yourself rooting for Frankie or not, you'll enjoy the game.

Suite Scarlett

When Scarlett Martin turns 15, she is given the key to her very own hotel suite...to take care of. You see, Scarlett's family owns a hotel in New York City, which sounds very glamorous, but is actually hard work...and not a very financially successful enterprise as of late. The tradition is to give each of their children a hotel suite to be responsible for when they reach 15, and when Scarlett is given the Empire Suite, she also inherits an unusual, generous, and demanding guest named Mrs. Amberson. As if that's not enough, Scarlett's older sister is having love life problems, her older brother may have to give up his dream of acting, her younger sister has survived cancer to become a brat, and her parents have had to dismiss all the other employees at the hotel. Scarlett's guest Mrs. Amberson, a wealthy ex-actress and wannabe author, hires Scarlett as her assistant and in no time at all has involved herself in Scarlett's family's problems, including helping her aspiring actor brother by taking over the direction of a play.

This book is fast-paced and lots of fun--among the best of the genre. Author Maureen Johnson accurately portrays the confusion of first love and the intricate dynamics of sisters and brothers. The end result is a witty, sweet, charming book with an extremely likeable cast of characters.