Ten Cents a Dance
Ten Cents a Dance
By: Christine Fletcher
This is a book I picked up because I judged it by its cover. Sometimes I really love when I do that! (Okay, I read the first few lines to be sure…)
Ruby is the oldest daughter of a Polish father and an Irish mother. Her father died years ago, her mother can no longer work in the factory due to arthritis, and so Ruby has quit school to go work in the factory – and ends up packaging pig’s feet. That tidbit right there had me in her corner and I totally justified the decisions she makes in order to leave the life of a factory girl behind. And honestly, who wouldn’t? Never mind that ‘good girls don’t act like that’ tone we get from her mother and friends (we’re in Chicago in 1941) which really just kind of grates on my nerves, but does add to the story.
In the past, I have also liked the bad boys, and that also helped me to identify with Ruby. Sometimes the bad boys are just so danged intriguing! Paulie is Ruby’s bad boy of choice. She knows he’s got a bad reputation, knows her mom doesn’t want her to see him, knows that he steals and subconsciously she knows he could and probably does worse, but she blocks that out. After all, he got her that great dress to wear at the job he recommended she try: that of a taxi dancer. Ruby’s story really revolves around her job as a taxi dancer and learning the ropes of how to reel in fishes (guys who will fork over their money), all the while lying to her mom and sister saying she’s a telephone operator. Her mother is amazing to me in that at first she questions the money and the things that Ruby is bringing home, but she soon stops. Their life has become so much easier! Their rent is all paid up, there’s coal in the bin for the winter, and food besides beans on the table. Ruby intends on keeping it that way, but the question becomes: just how far will she go?
Honestly, Ruby went farther than what I thought she would. But she also learns some valuable life lessons on the way: nothing in life is free (especially when it deals with gifts and favors from men – particularly in this time period and setting), Paulie is not necessarily as wonderful as she first thought, your younger siblings do watch how you behave, and just how do you go back to being a kid after having to be an adult? I find that last question the most fascinating quality of this book: Ruby wonders how she could ever go back to her boring old canning factory life (or even school) knowing what she knows now about the way men and women operate, and the world in general. I think that there are probably a lot of kids out there who do something they know their parents will not be happy about. I would hope that most parents would be forgiving and help their child learn from their mistakes, but while that may not always be the case, it’s important for kids (and adults) to know that you can change what you’ve become. Ruby has given me faith that people can change for the better.
Notes on the Cover:
I love Ruby’s profile at the top with the black background throughout. I love the red font of the title, and I particularly love the men in the pinstripe suits and hats at the bottom. I want to be in Chicago in 1941! I also want to go to a taxi dance hall!
Recommended To:
¨ Historical fiction readers
¨ Girls who like bad boys
¨ Boys who like to be bad
¨ Everyone! You’ll be hooked!