Girl about Town

March 7, 2016
Shankman, a film producer, teams up with Sullivan (Love by the Morning Star) for a Depression-era rags-to riches/riches-to-rags story. Lucille O'Malley, 16, lives a mean existence in a Lower East Side tenement until an encounter with a mobster changes her fortunes: she saves him from a murder charge, and he pays her way to Hollywood. Simultaneously, Frederick van der Waals, 17, learns the depth of his billionaire father's depravity and rejects Harvard for life as a hobo, hopping trains until he lands in Los Angeles, where Lucilleânewly minted as "Lulu Kelly"âdiscovers him in a bread line while searching for a realistic-looking bum for a movie scene. Splitting the narrative between two main characters doesn't allow readers to learn much about the maturation of either of them, but all the touchstones of Old Hollywood are hereâthe scheming gossip columnist, the celluloid stars with devastating secrets, A-list parties at Pickfairâand the co-authors keep the pace going strong, especially once the story pivots into a whodunit involving a rival starlet. Ages 14âup. Agent: Jason Anthony, Lippincott Massie McQuilkin.

April 15, 2016
Grades 9-12 Cinematic pacing, a compelling whodunit, and the glitzy aura of golden age Hollywood combine in this star-studded novel. Lowly Lucille O'Malley witnesses a mob assassination near her New York tenement, and, in exchange for her silence, she reluctantly accepts a cross-country ticket to start a new life as an It girl in Hollywood. Meanwhile, Freddie van der Waals sees his billionaire banker father casually commit murder, and, now disenchanted by his wealth, hightails it for a life on the road. In a meet-cute worthy of the silver screen, Lucillenow, thanks to her studio contract, Lulu Kellyand Freddie meet right before she accidentally shoots her rival in a scene. Who could have planted real bullets in the prop gun? And can Freddie help clear Lulu's name, all while dodging his father's thugs? Though the plot is at times a bit contrived, that's precisely in keeping with its 1930s-cinema inspiration, and the authors' knack for snappy dialogue is just the tops. Hand this one to teens swept up in the glamour of old Hollywood.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

March 15, 2016
An over-the-top rags-to-riches story set in 1930s Hollywood. Lucille O'Malley and her family are just barely scraping by on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Her father is debilitated by physical and emotional injuries sustained in World War I, so her mother has abandoned a teaching career to launder the delicates of wealthy women. In a far fancier neighborhood across town, Freddie van der Waals is regretting his entire lavish life to date: everything looks right and feels wrong, including his glamorous new fiancee, Violet. When Freddie discovers the shrewd villainy that's powered his father's business success, he abandons wealth and ease for a life on the road. The same night, Lucille witnesses an alleyway murder and, for her silence, is granted an opportunity to become a film star. In alternating, coincidence-laden third-person chapters, the renamed Lulu Kelly and Freddie embark on opposite journeys--she toward luxury and success, he toward near starvation--and meet in Los Angeles, their fates intertwining when Lulu becomes the chief suspect in a shooting on a set where Freddie is an extra. This pair of highly self-possessed, thinly developed white teenagers falls in love and solves the mystery, against a backdrop of Hollywood intrigue featuring historical figures like gossip doyenne Louella Parsons and early it girl Clara Bow. The contrived plot and one-dimensional, outlandish characters broadly mimic, rather than evoke, the rich 1930s setting. (Historical mystery. 12-15)

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January 1, 2017
Raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side and indebted to a gangster, Lucille moves to Hollywood, transforming into film star Lulu Kelly. Escaping a corrupt heritage, Frederick becomes a vagabond. Fate puts Freddie on set the same day Lulu is framed for murder. Even if the hardboiled gangsters are unbelievably soft-hearted, this is an amusing noir mystery filled with 1930s celebrities and slangy banter.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2016

Gr 8 Up-A journalist and a Hollywood insider bring readers a tale full of history, murder, romance, and drama. The story follows the lives of a rags-to-riches girl and a riches-to-rags boy after they both witness separate crimes and attempt to re-create their identities and find their true fortunes. Lulu Kelly is a former laundress-turned-glamorous movie star, and Freddie van der Waals is a reluctant tycoon-in-training-turned-hobo; both have ties to gangsters they'd rather not own up to, and each has secrets they can't reveal. Love blooms and murder abounds against the setting of 1930s Hollywood. The dialogue is stylized very specifically to the time, which will make it charming for some but perhaps a bit unapproachable for others. The novel will probably be well received by teens who are already interested in the glamour of Old Hollywood and the plight of the Great Depression, or perhaps as a fictional companion for someone doing research on that era. VERDICT A fun interpretation of a fascinating time in American history.-Emily Grace Le May, Providence Community Library, RI

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