Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Strings Attached


Last Friday, I had the opportunity to meet and eat dinner with Judy Blundell, award-winning author of What I Saw and How I Lied. She was in town promoting her forthcoming young adult novel, Strings Attached.

Under various pseudonyms, Blundell has authored over 100 New York Times best-selling titles. But, Blundell chose to use her real name for her two teen literary novels. Her first, What I Saw and How I Lied was awarded the National Book Award when it came out in 2008.

Strings Attached is Blundell's new novel, coming out in March 2011. I read the Advance Reader for Strings Attached and thoroughly enjoyed it. The book is set in Providence, Rhode Island and New York City during the 1950's. Kit Corrigan, a teenage girl with desire and talent for the stage, flees her family in Providence to "make it" in New York. She is totally unprepared and ends up accepting help from an unlikely source - the father of her estranged boyfriend. Unfortunately, Nate Benedict is a lawyer for the mob and any time you accept help from the mob, it comes with "strings attached."

I recommend this book for teens and adults interested in New York, the 1950's, gangsters, and Broadway. Blundell weaves just the right amount of history into this fast-paced, suspenseful story. Check it out (in March), I think you'll enjoy it!

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