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Out of the Easy

Ruta Sepetys

Discussion: Teen Historical Fiction

Why we're reading this: Josie’s mom is a prostitute in 1950s New Orleans. In fact, Josie is even named after a famous brothel mad…more
[close] Josie’s mom is a prostitute in 1950s New Orleans. In fact, Josie is even named after a famous brothel madam who died on Valentine’s Day, the same day as Josie’s birthday. Fortunately, Josie has no desire to follow in her mom’s footsteps. She has excellent marks in school and it is her dream is to attend college anywhere by in New Orleans.

On New Year’s Eve a respectable man ends up dying in the French Quarter (shortly after having a drink with Josie’s mom), who has recently left town with Cincinnati, a John from the brothel house with mob ties. Even Willie doesn’t approve of Cincinnati and tries to convince Josie to cut ties with her mother. In a progression of events, Josie finds herself thrown into a situation where she must decide what family truly means and discover if family will trump her dreams of leaving the Big Easy forever.

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Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 3 topics — 24 comments total

Teen Historical Fiction

Teen Historical Fiction vs. Adult Historical Fiction
By Kira · 8 posts · 13 views

last updated Sep 11, 2013 09:12AM

Teens Historical Adventure vs. Adult Historical Adventure
By Kira · 7 posts · 18 views

last updated May 25, 2013 08:56AM

What Members Thought

Feb 15, 2018 Chrissy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, historical-fiction, realistic-fiction

I've been meaning to read something by Ruta Sepetys and just haven't. This was the one book of hers available through my library's OverDrive catalog, so that's what I went with (I've got the others on hold - all in good time). I didn't quite know what to expect, but holy cow - this book was so great! It's just the right balance of intense thriller/mystery, coming of age, historical fiction and... whatever you want to call a story about a girl who has big dreams, even though her past keeps coming ...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Melissa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, mystery, historical-fiction, teen

Sepety’s first book was Between Shades of Gray (not to be confused with 50 Shades of Grey). That book put her on my top authors list. Maybe it has been long enough since I read it, but I think I liked this book even better as Out of the Easy was a world that made slightly more sense to me. Sepety’s writing is phenomenal, definitely securing her as one of my favorite authors.

This is one of my favorite books. I just re-read it and am reminded why I absolutely love Ruta Sepetys. I love these chara ...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Laura rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, books-for-older-ya, book-talk-possibilities

I really liked Ruta Sepetys' first book, Between Shades of Grey, and this one was even better. I could not put it down so it only took me a day to read. Wonderful characters and a compelling plot. Because the story takes place in a brothel, this is probably more suited for older teens. ...more

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Dec 10, 2013 Michelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, historical-fiction

Sepetys is quickly becoming a new favorite author of historical fiction. I couldn't put the book down. The story had so many layers and I couldn't anticipate the ending. ...more

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