Review originally appeared in Library Journal, January 2018. Young Esme Silver was born in pre-WWII Hollywood to Dina Wells, a 16-year old wanna-be actress star with the right looks, but very little talent. Her father, "Magic Ike," gambler and small-time crook, spends his days at the horse track, dragging "Baby E" along as he makes… Continue reading The Magnificent Life of Esme Wells by Adrienne Sharp
Tag: Las Vegas
Welcome to the Slipstream by Natalka Burian
Originally published in School Library Journal, May 2017. Grade 9 & up: Van, 17, was forced to grow up quickly in the slipstream of her mentally ill, brilliant mother. Her father died of a drug overdose when she was an infant. Van, her mother Sophie, and Ida, a surrogate grandmother, have lived as vagrants, following… Continue reading Welcome to the Slipstream by Natalka Burian
Librarian Laura 