Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys                      

Josie has a hard life in New Orleans.  Other people may enjoy the drinking, partying and brothels, but she has to clean up after all of that.   As the daughter of a prostitute, she is discriminated against by everyone.  Kids make fun of her and call her names.  Even adults are mean to her and make

assumptions that she will never amount to anything.  If that isn't enough, Josie's mother is a mess.  She has lousy choice in men- usually scary men that are in and out of jail, so Josie lives on her own.

In spite of all this, Josie has a plan to get out of New Orleans.  She is saving up money from her work at the brothel and her other job at the bookstore.  Then she meets a nice man who makes different assumptions about Josie.  That she must be smart.  She must be going to college.  She is educated.  Josie likes this man at the bookstore and is appalled when he is found dead just a few hours later.  Other bad things start happening and Josie's future begins to crumble before her eyes.

This is a great mystery.  I really enjoyed the historical setting- the seamy side of the French Quarter in 1950.  Josie is an unusual character- a sad childhood but some unusual and loyal friends.

A video about the novel with an introduction by the author

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Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards

Chloe fell asleep in study hall.  She does this sometimes (yes, she should be doing her schoolwork, but a quick nap never hurt anybody).  Next thing she knows, she wakes up and it's dark outside.  No one is in her classroom, not even her teacher.  In fact, the building is silent and dark.  Where is everyone?  Then school bad boy Adam shows up and says that she called him.  She can't imagine that.  Why would she have done that?  Why is there snow on the ground? 

Other weird things are happening too.  She has turned into a brain- big time!  She may become valedictorian.  Her grades are excellent and good colleges are recruiting her.  She has always liked Blake- he's cute, nice and an athlete and now he's her boyfriend!!

Of course, there are lots of bad changes too.  Her best friend Maggie isn't speaking to her. They've been inseparable forever. Chloe tried to explain the loss of memory to her parents but they think she is a headcase and take her to see a psychologist.  Chloe has been a little defiant in the past so the changes in her are thrilling them.  Six months have gone by and she doesn't remember a thing.

This book is excellent!  A good mystery with plenty of twists.  Chloe, Maggie, Blake and Adam are all strong characters that I really cared about- I wanted Maggie to tell Chloe what happened to their friendship.  And what's up with the "study" group?  Something is strange about it too.  Who can Chloe trust?