Author: Ruta Sepetys
Publisher: The Penguin Group
Year of Publication: 2013
Genre: Young Adult - Historical Fiction
Out of the Easy is a beautifully written New York Times Bestseller and Carnegie Medal nominated novel by Ruta Sepetys that is set in 1950 in New Orleans, Louisiana. I read this book with my daughters as our first "book club" book that we discussed online via Skype every Sunday for several weeks. Our goal was to read ten chapters a week - which sounds like a lot - but Ruta likes short chapters, so ten Sepetys chapters equals two Rowling chapters. LOL! Plus it reads SUPER QUICK. Reading Ruta's writing is like eating a bucket of popcorn. You can't stop until you get to the bottom of the bucket and there's just nothing left. I even read the Acknowledgements at the very end. I NEVER READ THAT. I just really didn't want it to end!
Without spoiling the book, I'll say that the plot is excellent. The main character, Josie, is a teenager who's grown up in the French Quarter among prostitutes and tough guys due to her mother being a prostitute. The intriguing part is that Josie is NOTHING like her wayward mother and spends a lot of time wondering who her father is. The book holds some great characters such as the brothel madame, Willie Woodley, who is loosely based on an actual New Orleans madame during that time period. Ruta really did her homework on this one, and as someone who LOVES New Orleans, I loved reading about Josie walking down streets I've walked down and seeing things I've seen. To top it off, Josie lives on her own in a little room over a bookstore in the the French Quarter. Think about that, Book People. She lived in a room over a BOOKSTORE in the FRENCH QUARTER! Does it get any more romantic and hip than that? I don't think so ...
The only thing I didn't like about the book is that there's no resolution to a big question set forth early on in the book. I can't go into detail without spoiling something, but for those who have read the book, I think you know what I'm talking about. There's some insinuation in the book about the answer, but no real concrete evidence to provide any closure, in my opinion. I'd be interested to find out what those who have read it think.
Kids - I would say this is definitely something I wouldn't recommend to anyone younger than 13 just because of some of the language in the book. As it's a young adult book, the "adult situations" that one would assume would be in a book full of whores is actually handled with grace and discretion. All my girls read it, but the 10-year old was a little young for some of it. She was feeling left out and we were already too far in to stop - plus she's the third kid, so there's a degree of laissez-faire parenting going on there. Sue me. However, for OTHER people, I would say 13 and up - and again - it's because of language - not carnal activities.
If you've read this book, I'd love to hear from you in the comments!
DISCLAIMER: THE COMMENTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED TO BE SPOILER FREE! IT'S OPEN SEASON DOWN THERE, SO BEWARE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT AND DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT YET!
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