Publisher: Bloomsbury USAPub.Date: April 1st 2008
Age Range: Young Adult
Pages: 356
Format: hardcover
Source Of Copy: from the author - Christine Fletcher
With her mother ill, it-s up to fifteen-year-old Ruby Jacinski to support her family. But in the 1940s, the only opportunities open to a Polish-American girl from Chicago-s poor Yards is a job in one of the meat packing plants. Through a chance meeting with a local tough, Ruby lands a job as a taxi dancer and soon becomes an expert in the art of -fishing-: working her patrons for meals, cash, clothes, even jewelry. Drawn ever deeper into the world of dance halls, jazz, and the mob, Ruby gradually realizes that the only one who can save her is herself. A mesmerizing look into a little known world and era.
A compelling book with a story set back in 1941, a debut read that makes the readers fall in love with the author immediately.
What I love the most about Ten Cents A Dance is that instead of choosing to portray a story in modern days, the author goes back to the past to seek an interesting background for her characters. And in my opinion, she does a great job. The atmosphere feels exactly like how it should be. How people live, how they treat each other, difficulties they have to face, everything feels movielike and relatable. Random details are added throughout the story are also a highlight. They make the book very realistic and unpredictable.
Ten Cents A Dance has a great plot. It feels free yet makes perfect sense. It tells the story of a teen girl who has matured early because of her hard life but also full of love, passion and hope. The twists are excellent especially near the end.
Ruby is definitely not your typical female lead. She isn't the meek type, but she isn't the strong dynamic style ever. She's smart but she can also be fooled. She stands up against the evils but she can lose herself carelessly in love with a bad guy. She carries the role of a money maker in her family, yet sometimes she's so childish. Her character is so interesting I don't even know where to start. And Paulie, it's really hard to judge him. I'm not going to say anything else to save you the fun.
To sum up, it's a book I hope everyone will pick up because it's worth reading. And loving.
Rating: 4.5/5
5 comments:
That book sounds amazing. What an original idea for YA!
Does sound different for a YA book.
I love books set in a different time period. It's interesting that a YA is done that way.
I don't usually reach for historical fiction, but the synopsis of this novel really grabbed me.
Fantastic review! I look forward to this novel!
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