Out of the Easy by Ruta SepetysDescription
Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys was a book club choice. The main character, Josie, knows the sketchy side of New Orleans because she was born into it. Well, moved into it when she was a little girl. Her mother is a prostitute working in Willie’s house, and she long ago expected Josie to fend for herself. Willie keeps an eye out for her, after a fashion, and pays her to clean the rooms in the house. Josie also has a second, more respectable job, working in the bookstore where she also lives.
Josie exists in her overlapping worlds of books and brothel until a customer at the bookstore assumes she is a college student. Josie begins to dream of a way out—if only the Big Easy will let her go. But for Josie, the trouble is just beginning.
Josie exists in her overlapping worlds of books and brothel until a customer at the bookstore assumes she is a college student. Josie begins to dream of a way out—if only the Big Easy will let her go. But for Josie, the trouble is just beginning.
Would I Teach this book?
Would I teach Out of the Easy? As I was reading Out of the Easy, I kept feeling like a thread was missing, the strongest thread that would guide all the subplots, and that at any moment, the real plot would emerge. But, spoiler alert: the main plot did not emerge. It was not a bad or boring read, but it was not the kind of gripping plot, where it has you in its talons, and you’re sneaking off to your room just to grab a few pages. It is not the kind of gripping I am looking for when I choose a book to teach. In addition, the seedy underworld of New Orleans, and especially Willie’s brothel, did not fulfill the promise of seediness. Willie’s brother felt too homy and cheery, compared to how I imagine a real brothel to be. To be fair, I have never actually been inside a brothel, but based on what we know about sex workers and how they are treated, I doubt that it is comparable to dorm life.
As a coming of age novel, Out of the Easy leaves much to be desired, and I would not classify it as YA.
As a coming of age novel, Out of the Easy leaves much to be desired, and I would not classify it as YA.
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