Vixen

November 8, 2010
Opening the Flappers series, Larkin's frothy debut tracks the lives of three flappers in Chicago at the height of the Roaring '20s. Gloria is wealthy, gorgeous, and engaged to the hottest bachelor in the Windy City. Her best friend, Lorraine, lusts after a boy she'll never win while spending daddy's money on sequined headbands and fringed sheaths she wears to knock back dirty martinis at speakeasies. Clara is Gloria's cousin, ostensibly dragged to Chicago to help with Gloria's wedding, but also escaping something shadowy in her past. All three lives change when Gloria busts out of her good girl role and starts visiting a nightclub. There she instantly falls for the black piano player and exhibits talent as a chanteuse. Forbidden romance ensues, followed by betrayal and scandal. Chick lit for the Gossip Girl crowd, the plot doesn't hold up to scrutiny (a thread about how cryptically menacing notes could be hidden in Clara's bedroom is never tied up) and certain scenes betray a misunderstanding of race relations during the period. Despite the considerable length, this installment ends without resolution.Book two, Ingénue, is due in 2011. Ages 12–up.

March 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Chicago socialite Gloria Carmody knows that there must be something more for her than her engagement to most-eligible-bachelor Sebastian Grey. She finds that something in the city's hottest speakeasy, and particularly in the company of the jazz band's black piano player. Meanwhile, her cousin Clara is playing the part of the innocent country girl while escaping her own tawdry flapper past, and Gloria's best friend, Lorraine, wants nothing more than to win their mutual friend Marcus's affections, but he only has eyes for another. All three girls have their secret desires, and fulfilling them means being prepared to sacrifice everything. The Prohibition era is an uncommon setting for historical fiction, and Larkin paints a glamorous (if shallow) picture of underground speakeasies and society parties of the 1920s. Clothing, room decor, and music are all richly described, but neither the culture nor the characters ever fully come to life and the historical details seem sketchy at best. However, the sultry flapper striking a pose on the cover will draw in fans of Anna Godbersen's "Luxe" series (HarperCollins), and the high drama will leave those readers eager for future installments in this series.-Brandy Danner, Wilmington Memorial Library, MA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2010
Grades 9-12 Its the Jazz Age, and 17-year-old Gloria Carmody wants to live it up. But thats not easy, as she is already engaged to the stuffy Sebastian Grey. Her inner flapper wins out, though, and Gloria is soon hanging out at a boozy Chicago club, attracted to the piano player, Jerome, who just happens to be black. But she is not the only vixen. Cousin Clara has come to keep Gloria company, but no one knows the farm girl has been around the block. Then theres best friend Lorraine, who envies all that Gloria has and is determined to get some of it for herself. Debut author Larkin crams plenty of delish details of the era into this opening title in the Flappers series and does a good job of switching from one character to another, all the while lacing the stories together. Whether a sheltered girl like Gloria would really have the nerve to hook up with Jerome seems doubtful, and the tale goes over the top at times. But this is fun, and a great cover will draw em in.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2011
Nothing is off limits to naive Gloria, jealous Lorraine, or secretive Clara in this first installment of a series set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The teenage heroines sneak out, frequent speakeasies, dally with gangsters, and drink themselves silly. Historic details are as thin as the plotting and character development, but shimmering dresses and forbidden romance provide a tantalizing aura of glamour.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)