allbookedup_'s review
3.0
Desperate times call for desperate measures. When you’re poor because your father is dead and your mother has made herself sick with sadness from his parting what’s a girl to do but go out there and make money for her family? What is better than a job where you get to wear gorgeous gowns and shake your tail feathers well getting paid good wages to do that? Who cares that people think you’re a floozy? Who cares that you’re lying to your family?
I really enjoyed this book. It’s a great story of a girl doing the best she can with the hand that life dealt her. In the end society and her families poor judgment changes her life more than the job she took to support said family. With a strong lead female character trying to make the best life out of what she has this book sets good examples and shows true examples of pressures people feel today even if it is set during the world war.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s a great story of a girl doing the best she can with the hand that life dealt her. In the end society and her families poor judgment changes her life more than the job she took to support said family. With a strong lead female character trying to make the best life out of what she has this book sets good examples and shows true examples of pressures people feel today even if it is set during the world war.
mjsteimle's review
2.0
The writing of this book was excellent, but the main character was completely unlikable.
sonia_reppe's review
5.0
Bad boys and secrets are both hard to keep...So it says on the cover of this coming-of-age novel set in the early 1940's. When her mother loses her job due to arthritis, Ruby Jacinski drops out of school to work in the Chicago stockyards. (Do I need to explain that this is dirty, smelly work?) Soon she is saved from this when she gets a job at the Starlight dance "school" as a taxi-dancer, dancing with men for ten cents a dance. Suddenly her work involves ball gowns and music and it seems life can be easy if you're a pretty girl...
This book is exciting and glamorous, but also realistic. With this new life of stockings and make-up comes new grown-up problems, including a stalker who wants more than just a dance; and competing with the other girls for tips when some of these experienced girls are ruthless hustlers. On top of this, Ruby is keeping this job a secret from her mother, telling her she is a phone operator instead, because her mother wouldn't approve. Her mother also forbids her to talk to this boy from the neighborhood who has a bad reputation. Well, Ruby can't help falling in love with him...
So some would say this book is about growing up too fast. I would say this is about growing up, having to make moral choices, dealing with your conscience, and questioning what is right or wrong. War and racism provide some of the background of this book which is a vivid glimpse into 1940's America. This book is five stars because I felt very close to the protagonist, like I was experiencing new things with her. (Some parts even gave me chills). If you know me, you know that this is the kind of coming-of-age journey that I love!
This book is exciting and glamorous, but also realistic. With this new life of stockings and make-up comes new grown-up problems, including a stalker who wants more than just a dance; and competing with the other girls for tips when some of these experienced girls are ruthless hustlers. On top of this, Ruby is keeping this job a secret from her mother, telling her she is a phone operator instead, because her mother wouldn't approve. Her mother also forbids her to talk to this boy from the neighborhood who has a bad reputation. Well, Ruby can't help falling in love with him...
So some would say this book is about growing up too fast. I would say this is about growing up, having to make moral choices, dealing with your conscience, and questioning what is right or wrong. War and racism provide some of the background of this book which is a vivid glimpse into 1940's America. This book is five stars because I felt very close to the protagonist, like I was experiencing new things with her. (Some parts even gave me chills). If you know me, you know that this is the kind of coming-of-age journey that I love!
hgraybrown's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, which is why I read it in one day. I think I might have managed to cook dinner at some point, but otherwise I couldn't put this down. This one is not just for young adults.
dja777's review
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot! I had never heard of taxi dancers. If you read it, make sure to read the author's afterward that explains how she came to write the book. I'm definitely going to try some of this author's other books.
missprint_'s review
3.0
Chicago, 1941: When her mother becomes too sick to work, Ruby Jacinski knows it's her responsibility to look after the family and make sure money is coming in. Ruby doesn't mind dropping out of school. But working in the factory just about kills her. Leave it to Ruby and her fiery temper to lose a sweet spot slicing bacon and end up working in Pig's Feet.
When a local legend and all-around tough guy suggests that Ruby could use her talents as a dance teacher to earn some real dough, Ruby jumps at the offer. But teaching dancing is the last thing on the clients' minds when Ruby begins working as a taxi dancer.
With no other choices, Ruby immerses herself into the world of taxi dancing and learns the fine art of drawing extra gifts in the form of meals, clothes and even cash from her clients. Soon, Ruby is making more money than she could have imagined. Soon Ruby realizes that the unsavory aspects of her work are starting to stick to her as much as the stink of pickled pig's feet used to. With no one else to help, Ruby knows that it's her choice to make another change for herself in Ten Cents a Dance (2009) by Christine Fletcher.
Ten Cents a Dance was partly inspired by one of the authors relatives as detailed in the author's note at the end of the novel.
Fletcher offers a well-researched novel that brings the world of the Chicago Yards neighborhood to life. Ruby is a tough as nails heroine who isn't afraid to make hard choices to get what's coming to her. If Ruby is coarse or gritty during the story it is because she has to be to survive.
While Ruby's decisions are often fueled by impulsive judgments of painfully naive notions, she is a very authentic heroine and one that readers will understand. Although Ruby makes mistakes again and again (and again) during the narrative she always owns up to the them. She always acknowledges what she did and works to make it right.
Ten Cents a Dance is a vivid story of the darker side of pre-war Chicago. Sure to appeal to readers looking for a noirish read they can sink their teeth into.
Possible Pairings: Strings Attached by Judy Blundell, The Luxe by Anna Godbersen, Vixen by Jillian Larkin, The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff, Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross, Bowery Girl by Kim Taylor
When a local legend and all-around tough guy suggests that Ruby could use her talents as a dance teacher to earn some real dough, Ruby jumps at the offer. But teaching dancing is the last thing on the clients' minds when Ruby begins working as a taxi dancer.
With no other choices, Ruby immerses herself into the world of taxi dancing and learns the fine art of drawing extra gifts in the form of meals, clothes and even cash from her clients. Soon, Ruby is making more money than she could have imagined. Soon Ruby realizes that the unsavory aspects of her work are starting to stick to her as much as the stink of pickled pig's feet used to. With no one else to help, Ruby knows that it's her choice to make another change for herself in Ten Cents a Dance (2009) by Christine Fletcher.
Ten Cents a Dance was partly inspired by one of the authors relatives as detailed in the author's note at the end of the novel.
Fletcher offers a well-researched novel that brings the world of the Chicago Yards neighborhood to life. Ruby is a tough as nails heroine who isn't afraid to make hard choices to get what's coming to her. If Ruby is coarse or gritty during the story it is because she has to be to survive.
While Ruby's decisions are often fueled by impulsive judgments of painfully naive notions, she is a very authentic heroine and one that readers will understand. Although Ruby makes mistakes again and again (and again) during the narrative she always owns up to the them. She always acknowledges what she did and works to make it right.
Ten Cents a Dance is a vivid story of the darker side of pre-war Chicago. Sure to appeal to readers looking for a noirish read they can sink their teeth into.
Possible Pairings: Strings Attached by Judy Blundell, The Luxe by Anna Godbersen, Vixen by Jillian Larkin, The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff, Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross, Bowery Girl by Kim Taylor
dctigue's review
4.0
This book was actually better than I thought it would be.
I had never heard of taxi-dancers before. Now I know what they are.
The story was well told.
I had never heard of taxi-dancers before. Now I know what they are.
The story was well told.