Ingenue

Gr 9 Up—Picking up where Vixen (Delacorte, 2010) left off, this installment finds Gloria, Clara, and Lorraine in New York City. Gloria is on the lam and living with her African-American jazz-piano-playing boyfriend, Jerome. Their lives are very different than they were in Chicago as they struggle to make ends meet while looking for gigs. Lorraine works for Chicago gangster Carlito Macharelli at the Opera House speakeasy where her main job is to lure in Gloria and Jerome. Clara and Marcus's relationship is strained as she goes back to her old flapper ways all in the name of being a reporter for Manhattanite magazine. When Vera discovers that a hit woman is after her brother Jerome, she heads to New York City, accompanied by his best friend and trumpet player, Evan. Things come to a head when everyone ends up at the Opera House on the night that Gloria and Jerome finally perform. Racial inequity is explored as Vera, Jerome, and Evan must enter clubs through the back and are not allowed on the floor of Harlem's Cotton Club, and the lack of acceptance of interracial couples is evident through Gloria's sneaking through a white apartment building in disguise before entering the building she shares with Jerome. With a full plot, Larkin's writing falls flat. Her characters seem to have lost themselves and do not shine as brightly as they did in Vixen; however, the booze, deception, scandals, and romance will keep readers looking forward to the next book in the series.—Adrienne L. Strock, Maricopa County Library District, AZ