Ten Cents a Dance

I know I've said it before, but I love historical fiction.  This book takes place right before and right after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The author, Christine Fletcher, does a great job of setting the mood and the scene.  The main character, Ruby, is a sixteen-year-old in Chicago who has been forced because of family circumstances to quit school and go to work in the meat packing industry.  Totally disgusting.  When she finds out about an opportunity to be a "Taxi Dancer," she lies to her mom, and begins to lead a double life.  These dancers make quite a bit more money, but they walk a fine line between simply dancing and becoming a prostitute.  Ruby grows up very fast.  She makes mistakes, but she's savvy and spunky and this is a very satisfying read.  My own mother was about Ruby's age, and although she was a farm girl and didn't lead a double life, the stories of life during the war, the rationing, the stars in people's windows, and the constant worrying were situations that my mother and her family also dealt with.