Watertown young adult author Liza Ketchum will read from her latest book, Life Fantastic, at a local book store in March.
Ketchum will from her book on Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Cambridge, MA 02140 For more information go to http://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/liza-ketchum-life-fantastic
According to the publisher, Adams Media book division of Simon & Schuster, Life Fantastic is set in 1913 and Teresa LeClair, the daughter of former vaudevillians, longs to escape Vermont to star on Broadway. She hops a train to New York, but when her little brother stows away with her, her dreams come second to caring for him. Luckily, they’re taken in by big-hearted Maeve, who encourages Teresa in the singing contests she enters. Also competing is a gifted dancer, Pietro, and Teresa quickly comes to care for him.
Pietro is black, and Teresa’s struggle can’t compare to the barriers he faces, on and off the stage. His race means that he and Teresa cannot act on their feelings for one another, but she admires his fight for justice. While she wants to become a star, Teresa joins the struggle to win equal rights denied to people of color. This is the story of two talented teenagers from different worlds, and a girl whose heart is as big as her voice.
“Ketchum weaves a gripping story of racial discrimination in the performing arts … Ketchum paints a vivid portrait of the difficult life of a performer and the indignities and prejudice endured by artists of color … Lovers of theater and history will find a great deal to sink their teeth into.” – Publishers Weekly
Liza Ketchum
Ketchum is the award-winning author of sixteen books, including Out of Left Field, set in contemporary Boston with echoes to the Vietnam War era. Her novel Where the Great Hawk Flies won the Massachusetts Book Award for Children’s/Young Adult Literature, and The Gold Rush, a companion to the Ken Burns/Geoffrey Ward PBS series The West, was an ABA “Pick of the List” book. An experienced teacher, Liza was a founding faculty member of Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program. She currently teaches writing to graduate students and is at work on another novel.