Review: Strings Attached by Judy Blundell

Title: Strings Attached 
Author: Judy Blundell
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Publishing Date: March 1st 2011
Pages: 313
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction, Coming of Age
Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio Book

Goodreads Summary:

From National Book Award winner Judy Blundell, the tale of a sixteen-year-old girl caught in a mix of love, mystery, Broadway glamour, and Mob retribution in 1950 New York.


When Kit Corrigan arrives in New York City, she doesn't have much. She's fled from her family in Providence, Rhode Island, and she's broken off her tempestuous relationship with a boy named Billy, who's enlisted in the army.

The city doesn't exactly welcome her with open arms. She gets a bit part as a chorus girl in a Broadway show, but she knows that's not going to last very long. She needs help--and then it comes, from an unexpected source.

Nate Benedict is Billy's father. He's also a lawyer involved in the mob. He makes Kit a deal--he'll give her an apartment and introduce her to a new crowd. All she has to do is keep him informed about Billy . . . and maybe do him a favor every now and then.

Review:
I really enjoy historical fiction. I grabbed this one up after discovering it at my local library. It was a very interesting read and I did enjoy it.

The story: Kit is a 17 year old girl off on her own in New York trying to make a name for herself. She recently broke up with her boyfriend, Billy, because of his temper and jealousy. Barely surviving she is approached by her ex boyfriends father, who is mixed up with the mob, and is offered an apartment, a job at a local club as a dancer, and bills paid. The catch, she needs to keep his son happy and safe. The problem.. Kit wants nothing to do with Billy anymore, she is scared of what he can do. Without realizing how quickly she has fallen into a dangerous life, Kit finds herself being paid for, speaking to Billy about marriage, and being accused of being the girlfriend of Billy’s father. She is in deep and doesn’t know how to get out.

The Characters: Kit is a pretty street smart girl for this generation, she grew up in a poor family and has been through a lot. She is a determined girl and very stubborn. I really liked her, the only thing I had a hard time handling was her ease about getting back together with Billy. I had to remind myself that in the 50’s, many girls didn’t know better when their men were big jerks. She really believes he will change. It was easy to want him to change, but being from a mob family I am not sure what one should expect.

In this story we see a lot of different types of relationships between Kit and many characters. Kit and her sister and brother (triplets) Kit and her father, Kit and her aunt, Kit and Billy, Kit and Nate. This was an amazing part of the story. The story does flip back and forth between present and different types of past. The author did an amazing job on the transitions, they were easy to follow and they added so much to the story. The relationships and the family drama is the reason that Kit is in the predicament she is in and it is also those relationships that she will need to escape.

The historical aspect was wonderfully written. I felt I was in 1950, the setting, the style, and the feel of the story really fit well together to make it real. That is what I love about historical fiction, I want to go back in time, feel and live the way they did. Everything fit well in this book and it made it hard to put the book down.

A very enjoyable experience.

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