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To All My Fans, With Love, from Sylvie
Sylvie isn't your average girl. When she dresses up she looks eighteen, and she's spent the last three years in foster care plotting her escape to Hollywood. But as Sylvie quickly learns on the road, zigzagging across the Midwest in a stranger's two-tone blue Pontiac, life isn't like the movies. Left broke and stranded in the middle of the country, she has no choice but to accept the help of Walter Murchison, a Bible salesman who is just a little too good at selling to be trusted.
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First published January 1, 1982
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About the author
Ellen Conford
68 books67 followersEllen Conford was an author for children and young adults. Among her writings are the Annabel the Actress and Jenny Archer series. Her books have won the Best Book of the Year Citation, Best Book of the International Interest Citation, Best Book of the Year for Children, Parents' Choice Award, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 8, 2013
**UPDATE** Lizzie Skurnick Books is reprinting this in all its glory this Fall 2013. So if you even wanted to read my favorite YA book of all time without scouring used book shops, you're in luck!! Just ordered it for my library.**
I first read this book when I was 13 years old. I checked it out of our local library's YA section and fell in love with it. 10 years later, I tracked down an old library copy on Half.com (remember when that website was a thing?) and it travels with me where ever I move to this day.
It's hard to pinpoint why I loved this book so much as a kid. It's realistic fiction, but still historical since it is set in the fifties and as a teen, that seemed like an age ago. Crinolines? Mini-poo powdered shampoo? HATBOXES? I couldn't stop reading. The adventure she takes in the book is one I think we all dreamed about as kids... heading out with only our savings and a suitcase and setting out on the open road in search of adventure. Of course, there are moments that seem "typical" now, but back then... let's just say the scene on the Greyhound bus still gives me panic attacks. Not to mention creepy Bible Salesman. UGH IT'S JUST SO GOOD!!
But don't pass up this book just because or its age. I recommend it for ya readers who enjoy realistic fiction with a bit of a "historical" vibe. ::waiting for the inevitable "90's setting" as historical to make me feel old::
I first read this book when I was 13 years old. I checked it out of our local library's YA section and fell in love with it. 10 years later, I tracked down an old library copy on Half.com (remember when that website was a thing?) and it travels with me where ever I move to this day.
It's hard to pinpoint why I loved this book so much as a kid. It's realistic fiction, but still historical since it is set in the fifties and as a teen, that seemed like an age ago. Crinolines? Mini-poo powdered shampoo? HATBOXES? I couldn't stop reading. The adventure she takes in the book is one I think we all dreamed about as kids... heading out with only our savings and a suitcase and setting out on the open road in search of adventure. Of course, there are moments that seem "typical" now, but back then... let's just say the scene on the Greyhound bus still gives me panic attacks. Not to mention creepy Bible Salesman. UGH IT'S JUST SO GOOD!!
But don't pass up this book just because or its age. I recommend it for ya readers who enjoy realistic fiction with a bit of a "historical" vibe. ::waiting for the inevitable "90's setting" as historical to make me feel old::
June 17, 2017
this is way creepier than i remembered it being when i was 12, haha. that bible salesman! gahh.
June 1, 2011
I loved, loved, loved this book when I was a teenager. I had found an old copy at a yard sale back in the 90's and decided to read it, since it was only a 25 cents. Little did I know, that this would be a story that would stick with me for years. I think this is a wonderful coming of age story about a girl with big dreams and a hope for a brighter future. Unfortunatly I lost my copy when I moved 7 years ago and I am still looking for another copy.
March 9, 2024
ughhh i hate this class wht am i reading the worst books
December 12, 2014
Did anyone else get major Marilyn Monroe vibes from this book? Sylvie and Marilyn had very similar upbringings. Anyway. Small spoilers --- This was definitely not what I expected, but it was still a really great read that I found hard to put down. The beginning was sort of slow, but still a great build up. Walter was the kind of character I should have been weary of from the very beginning -- heck, I should have cut an eye at Sylvie when she so willingly accepted his help, but I didn't. I said to myself, "It's the 50s! Behavior was different back then!" Though I felt things were sort of rushed, especially with the introduction of Vic, it was still nice to see Sylvie figure things out. I especially liked how her sexuality wasn't ignored despite her past. By the end, I was begging to know more. I wanted a sequel. What happened when she returned home? Did her and Vic ever stay in touch? Did she become the big movie star she wanted to be? I think the biggest question was did she STILL want to become a big movie star?
May 13, 2020
So this book was one of my weird favorites when I was a kid in the 80s. I think I liked the low brow salaciousness of it? Gross. AnywAy, I reread it just for fun and as an adult, it just reads to me as a straight up horror novel. Like, this is the stuff young women have to deal with. The end with Vic is...a bit much. Like let’s all wait for a mega self aware 29 year old boy to save us?? Ha. Hardly. This is the poor person’s Lolita from Dolores’s perspective.
April 16, 2018
The Pollyanna-esque innocence and optimism of a young teen in its 1950s settings crossed with the bluntness of its 1980s publication date leads it to an oddly crass place by the end, despite the lack of anything explicit. I feel like not much was accomplished on her trip beyond a really complicated way to say "hey girls it's cool if you have tingly feelings in your pants; that's totes normal! just, like, think about what you hope to get out of it before acting on them maybe."
That said, I quite enjoyed all the time period detail, from the prices of restaurant meals, to the use of hatboxes and "crinolines" under skirts, to her hero worship of old-school-glam celebrities (Natalie Wood in particular). It was easy to see how much more romanticized one's Hollywood dreams might be if you only ever hear about celebrities through magazines, compared to today's 24/7 news cycle.
That said, I quite enjoyed all the time period detail, from the prices of restaurant meals, to the use of hatboxes and "crinolines" under skirts, to her hero worship of old-school-glam celebrities (Natalie Wood in particular). It was easy to see how much more romanticized one's Hollywood dreams might be if you only ever hear about celebrities through magazines, compared to today's 24/7 news cycle.
February 18, 2014
Just read the GORGEOUS version out from Lizzie Skurnick Books (http://lizzieskurnickbooks.com/books/...) and remembered all over again why I love Ellen Conford! Psychologically complex page-turner, with (in this case) beauty tips. Thanks, Lizzie Skurnick for bringing back this classic.
February 20, 2021
I really enjoyed this! Personally, I think older YA novels [this one was written in the 1980s] handle controversial/hard-hitting topics in better taste compared to modern YA.
February 19, 2025
Why do I find these so darn entertaining??? Not gonna stop til I’ve read them all!
December 24, 2016
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
Sylvie is fifteen years old, and she knows she has to get out of foster care. Each of three foster fathers with whom she has been placed has sexually abused her, and she knows no one will believe her if she reports their behavior. To make her escape, Sylvie gathers a few possessions, dresses herself to pass for eighteen, and hops a bus. When she is robbed by a fellow passenger, however, she finds herself out of money and at the mercy of a traveling middle-aged Bible salesman named Walter Murchison. Walter agrees to drive her across the country to Hollywood if she doesn't mind a few stops along the way, but when they hit Las Vegas, he announces he wants to marry her. Luckily, before Sylvie makes a poor decision, she meets Vic, who helps her understand the proper way to approach love and sex.
I remember Ellen Conford as the author of short middle-school friendly novels about dating and relationships so I was really unprepared for the constant worries that ran through my adult mind as I read this book! It troubled me how quickly Sylvie trusted complete strangers, especially after the way she has been treated by her abusers, and I just wanted to step in and mother her a little bit. In fact, I think the role of a mother is sorely missing from this book, which is basically populated by men who provide Sylvie with their version of how she should behave. While Vic's view of the world, wherein love has meaning and sex is not necessarily its equal, is a healthy one, I couldn't help but feel like Sylvie only accepted it because she found him attractive. Obviously, there is much here for young girls to critique and understand, but as a mother of a daughter who will someday be fifteen, I felt uncomfortable the entire time I was reading.
That said, this book does a lovely job of portraying the time period (the 1950s) and of handling sexual content with an artful, non-sensationalized approach. This book certainly disabuses readers of their romantic notions regarding running away to Hollywood, and it does end on a hopeful, if not entirely neat, resolution. Because it is historical fiction, it doesn't feel quite as dated as other "old school" titles which had contemporary settings when they were published. Girls in eighth and ninth grade will eat this up, even now, and will have a lot to say about Sylvie, her unthinkable situation, and her questionable choices.
Sylvie is fifteen years old, and she knows she has to get out of foster care. Each of three foster fathers with whom she has been placed has sexually abused her, and she knows no one will believe her if she reports their behavior. To make her escape, Sylvie gathers a few possessions, dresses herself to pass for eighteen, and hops a bus. When she is robbed by a fellow passenger, however, she finds herself out of money and at the mercy of a traveling middle-aged Bible salesman named Walter Murchison. Walter agrees to drive her across the country to Hollywood if she doesn't mind a few stops along the way, but when they hit Las Vegas, he announces he wants to marry her. Luckily, before Sylvie makes a poor decision, she meets Vic, who helps her understand the proper way to approach love and sex.
I remember Ellen Conford as the author of short middle-school friendly novels about dating and relationships so I was really unprepared for the constant worries that ran through my adult mind as I read this book! It troubled me how quickly Sylvie trusted complete strangers, especially after the way she has been treated by her abusers, and I just wanted to step in and mother her a little bit. In fact, I think the role of a mother is sorely missing from this book, which is basically populated by men who provide Sylvie with their version of how she should behave. While Vic's view of the world, wherein love has meaning and sex is not necessarily its equal, is a healthy one, I couldn't help but feel like Sylvie only accepted it because she found him attractive. Obviously, there is much here for young girls to critique and understand, but as a mother of a daughter who will someday be fifteen, I felt uncomfortable the entire time I was reading.
That said, this book does a lovely job of portraying the time period (the 1950s) and of handling sexual content with an artful, non-sensationalized approach. This book certainly disabuses readers of their romantic notions regarding running away to Hollywood, and it does end on a hopeful, if not entirely neat, resolution. Because it is historical fiction, it doesn't feel quite as dated as other "old school" titles which had contemporary settings when they were published. Girls in eighth and ninth grade will eat this up, even now, and will have a lot to say about Sylvie, her unthinkable situation, and her questionable choices.
April 25, 2022
I remember loving this book as a teen and was excited to reread it. As an adult, the story is problematic and even disturbing in many ways. I ended up just feeling bad for Sylvie and angry at a world and social services system that harmed her.
Read
April 8, 20183.5 stars. Enjoyable, if not a little lacklustre.
December 9, 2025
I still remember the first time I read this in 1990 or '91. Pretty sure I was Sylvie's age, 15, which is too scary to even think about (today is Dec 2025). Most of it went over my head back then, but re-reading it now, as a middle aged adult, and with my smartphone handy to look up all the fun 50's references, (Harry Belafonte had a hit song "Sylvie" the lyrics are referenced here in this book. It was nice to look it up and listen for free on YouTube. Sylvie also enjoys Elvis songs like "Jailhouse Rock" and Doris Day movies-how did we ever survive pre-Internet?!) I still don't blame myself for the strong feelings this book inflicted upon me, even back then. It was a library copy, and I couldn't put it down. This poor girl, cursed with such outrageous good looks, every single guy who crosses her path wants nothing more than to take advantage of her.
Every. Single. One.
Okay, there is one exception. We'll get to him in a minute. I remember it was another scorching hot summer day in southern Utah when we returned from the library where I'd checked out another Ellen Conford book because I'd enjoyed "And This is Laura" and "Me and the Terrible Two" so much, like the book addict I was, I needed MORE by this author.
Little did I realize what I'd just signed up for. I spent the rest of that afternoon curled up on my bed so involved in Sylvie's story when mom called me up to dinner, I could hardly focus on what I was eating. This story GOES THERE. It was so real. My 15 year-old self was not prepared for such adult content as this book contained-the sexual awakening of an abused teenager.
So, here's the *spoiler alert* summary: Once upon a time, in 1956 Long Island not far from NYC, there was a fifteen year old foster care child/teenager named Sylvie who tells us, in first person POV (point of view) that after she had to move out of her grandmother's home after her mother abandoned her at birth, she was placed in a foster home where the father was a real jerk while his wife looked the other way. One night, he sexually assaulted her, she screamed and fought back. Next day, she moved to her current foster home but this foster father is also eyeing her in ways that Sylvie is just not comfortable with.
And so, Sylvie has come up with a plan.
She is going to run away to Hollywood and become a movie star. It only takes until chapter 4 (there are 17 chapters 187 pages total in this book) before Sylvie is on her way, bumping along on a bus on a two lane highway, trying to decide if she can trust the creepy lady making friendly conversation in the seat next to her. The reader is screaming "Foreshadowing" at Sylvie so it is no surprise when she discovers during her journey that her wallet with all the money she'd spent three years saving up while living in this current foster home-is gone.
By this point, Sylvie is in a diner somewhere in Indiana. In a nearby booth, a middle aged man named Walter can't help but notice how hot this Lolita is! And, oh yeah, she's in need of some Christian charity too. Poor thing just lost all her money, including her bus ticket, so she is stranded, forced to depend on the kindness of strangers.
Again, the reader is yelling at our heroine not to be so hasty, jumping into this man's car when he offers to drive her to Hollywood. "What about your suitcase, Sylvie?! It's still on the bus!" But, of course, Sylvie doesn't even realize this until hours later when she and Walter, who turns out to be a Bible salesman, are speeding merrily along Route 66. Walter has no problem assuming the role of sugar daddy, purchasing whatever Sylvie needs, feeding her at fast food diners along the way and getting them a motel room with separate beds that night. Sylvie is clutching her pearls but Walter doesn't try anything until the next night at the next motel.
Sylvie tags along as he sells Bibles to poor, barefooted farmwives until they come to one farmhouse with a very good looking son just about Sylvie's age. He gets her alone and starts feeling her up. Walter is so jealous, he attacks Sylvie that night at the next motel mentioned above. Again, Sylvie screams, sobs, kicks him in the shin and sobs some more. Walter backs off, but not before he declares he wants to marry Sylvie. Let's ditch this room and drive all night to Las Vegas. But while Sylvie is desperate for love and attention, she knows she could never love a man old enough to be her father and Walter has no idea she's a minor. She lied to him about her age, he believes she's 18.
They reach Las Vegas and Walter checks them into another seedy motel room with just one bed ("Don't worry, honey, it's a BIG bed!") and again, Sylvie, buys herself some more time. They can't go to the drive through 24 hour chapel and get married RIGHT NOW, let's wait until tomorrow morning. Walter agrees and is snoring away on the bed while Sylvie tries to sleep in one of the chairs. Wow, Walter, you're such a gentleman. Little wonder Sylvie ditched him as soon as she woke up and discovered it was daylight...and 114 degrees outside.
That's when Sylvie meets Vic, the young, single adult pool attendant at the other seedy motel across the street but Vic is actually a responsible adult. He and Sylvie strike up a pleasant conversation and somehow it all comes out. Vic helps Sylvie hide in one of the rooms currently being renovated so he won't get in trouble with his boss. Because Vic is studying at UCLA to be a psychiatrist one day, working this summer job for some extra cash, he encourages Sylvie to talk and she tells him everything, her life story, running away and all her adventures with Walter. She cries on his shoulder and he is like the big brother or father figure she never had. He takes her out on the town that night on a date, the first date Sylvie has ever been on, and he never once tries to rape her or take advantage of her.
As a frequent visitor to Las Vegas when I was growing up in Southern Utah, reading about Vic and Sylvie's romp through Old Las Vegas: Freemont street where U2 shot "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" music video (this book was published in 1982 by the way!) the Sands Hotel which is now The Venetian since 1996, then he takes her to dinner and dancing and cruising the Strip.
When they get back to Sylvie's makeshift motel room, this is where my library copy suddenly ended. Somehow, the last chapter was missing as Chapter 16 ends with a familiar car screeching up to them and out pops an unidentified someone yelling "Sylvie, where have you been?" and I thought that was the end of the book until I found another copy and could read Chapter 17 and find out who Sylvie ended up with.
Turns out it was Walter who confronted them but after Vic sternly informs him Sylvie is still very much a minor and Walter could be arrested for solicitation, Walter is quick to get back in his car and that's the last we ever see of him. They enter the room and by this point, Sylvie is convinced she is in love with Vic and, of course, Vic returns that love. Right? "Let's get married!" she urges her new boyfriend who she only just met today, but Vic gently counsels her on the difference between love and infatuation. Everyone not only needs love but is worthy of love too and Sylvie begrudgingly agrees with Vic she should turn around and go back home. Tomorrow. Vic wrote up a notarized statement so Sylvie can show her social worker and get moved to another foster home, a safer healthier one. Maybe in a few years when Sylvie is a little older they can meet up again and see where this relationship takes them. They will write often, Vic wants to stay friends. Sylvie tells us she spent a completely chaste and platonic night in Vic's arms in the twin motel bed and the next day they made the call to New York Child Welfare Services.
The End
So, in conclusion, this is worth reading. I enjoyed re-reading this as I'd forgotten nearly everything and love rediscovering old stories in this way. Ellen Conford is an unsung hero in YA literature. The plot and characterization drive the story, dark as it sometimes gets. There is mild swearing and the sexual assault scenes are kept to PG since PG-13 is still a few years away! I would not recommend this to anyone under age 14 or so but if I had a daughter that accidently stumbled on this I would hope she would come to me and we could have a healthy discussion about safe dating practices and how to defend oneself in case of unwanted advances.
Every. Single. One.
Okay, there is one exception. We'll get to him in a minute. I remember it was another scorching hot summer day in southern Utah when we returned from the library where I'd checked out another Ellen Conford book because I'd enjoyed "And This is Laura" and "Me and the Terrible Two" so much, like the book addict I was, I needed MORE by this author.
Little did I realize what I'd just signed up for. I spent the rest of that afternoon curled up on my bed so involved in Sylvie's story when mom called me up to dinner, I could hardly focus on what I was eating. This story GOES THERE. It was so real. My 15 year-old self was not prepared for such adult content as this book contained-the sexual awakening of an abused teenager.
So, here's the *spoiler alert* summary: Once upon a time, in 1956 Long Island not far from NYC, there was a fifteen year old foster care child/teenager named Sylvie who tells us, in first person POV (point of view) that after she had to move out of her grandmother's home after her mother abandoned her at birth, she was placed in a foster home where the father was a real jerk while his wife looked the other way. One night, he sexually assaulted her, she screamed and fought back. Next day, she moved to her current foster home but this foster father is also eyeing her in ways that Sylvie is just not comfortable with.
And so, Sylvie has come up with a plan.
She is going to run away to Hollywood and become a movie star. It only takes until chapter 4 (there are 17 chapters 187 pages total in this book) before Sylvie is on her way, bumping along on a bus on a two lane highway, trying to decide if she can trust the creepy lady making friendly conversation in the seat next to her. The reader is screaming "Foreshadowing" at Sylvie so it is no surprise when she discovers during her journey that her wallet with all the money she'd spent three years saving up while living in this current foster home-is gone.
By this point, Sylvie is in a diner somewhere in Indiana. In a nearby booth, a middle aged man named Walter can't help but notice how hot this Lolita is! And, oh yeah, she's in need of some Christian charity too. Poor thing just lost all her money, including her bus ticket, so she is stranded, forced to depend on the kindness of strangers.
Again, the reader is yelling at our heroine not to be so hasty, jumping into this man's car when he offers to drive her to Hollywood. "What about your suitcase, Sylvie?! It's still on the bus!" But, of course, Sylvie doesn't even realize this until hours later when she and Walter, who turns out to be a Bible salesman, are speeding merrily along Route 66. Walter has no problem assuming the role of sugar daddy, purchasing whatever Sylvie needs, feeding her at fast food diners along the way and getting them a motel room with separate beds that night. Sylvie is clutching her pearls but Walter doesn't try anything until the next night at the next motel.
Sylvie tags along as he sells Bibles to poor, barefooted farmwives until they come to one farmhouse with a very good looking son just about Sylvie's age. He gets her alone and starts feeling her up. Walter is so jealous, he attacks Sylvie that night at the next motel mentioned above. Again, Sylvie screams, sobs, kicks him in the shin and sobs some more. Walter backs off, but not before he declares he wants to marry Sylvie. Let's ditch this room and drive all night to Las Vegas. But while Sylvie is desperate for love and attention, she knows she could never love a man old enough to be her father and Walter has no idea she's a minor. She lied to him about her age, he believes she's 18.
They reach Las Vegas and Walter checks them into another seedy motel room with just one bed ("Don't worry, honey, it's a BIG bed!") and again, Sylvie, buys herself some more time. They can't go to the drive through 24 hour chapel and get married RIGHT NOW, let's wait until tomorrow morning. Walter agrees and is snoring away on the bed while Sylvie tries to sleep in one of the chairs. Wow, Walter, you're such a gentleman. Little wonder Sylvie ditched him as soon as she woke up and discovered it was daylight...and 114 degrees outside.
That's when Sylvie meets Vic, the young, single adult pool attendant at the other seedy motel across the street but Vic is actually a responsible adult. He and Sylvie strike up a pleasant conversation and somehow it all comes out. Vic helps Sylvie hide in one of the rooms currently being renovated so he won't get in trouble with his boss. Because Vic is studying at UCLA to be a psychiatrist one day, working this summer job for some extra cash, he encourages Sylvie to talk and she tells him everything, her life story, running away and all her adventures with Walter. She cries on his shoulder and he is like the big brother or father figure she never had. He takes her out on the town that night on a date, the first date Sylvie has ever been on, and he never once tries to rape her or take advantage of her.
As a frequent visitor to Las Vegas when I was growing up in Southern Utah, reading about Vic and Sylvie's romp through Old Las Vegas: Freemont street where U2 shot "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" music video (this book was published in 1982 by the way!) the Sands Hotel which is now The Venetian since 1996, then he takes her to dinner and dancing and cruising the Strip.
When they get back to Sylvie's makeshift motel room, this is where my library copy suddenly ended. Somehow, the last chapter was missing as Chapter 16 ends with a familiar car screeching up to them and out pops an unidentified someone yelling "Sylvie, where have you been?" and I thought that was the end of the book until I found another copy and could read Chapter 17 and find out who Sylvie ended up with.
Turns out it was Walter who confronted them but after Vic sternly informs him Sylvie is still very much a minor and Walter could be arrested for solicitation, Walter is quick to get back in his car and that's the last we ever see of him. They enter the room and by this point, Sylvie is convinced she is in love with Vic and, of course, Vic returns that love. Right? "Let's get married!" she urges her new boyfriend who she only just met today, but Vic gently counsels her on the difference between love and infatuation. Everyone not only needs love but is worthy of love too and Sylvie begrudgingly agrees with Vic she should turn around and go back home. Tomorrow. Vic wrote up a notarized statement so Sylvie can show her social worker and get moved to another foster home, a safer healthier one. Maybe in a few years when Sylvie is a little older they can meet up again and see where this relationship takes them. They will write often, Vic wants to stay friends. Sylvie tells us she spent a completely chaste and platonic night in Vic's arms in the twin motel bed and the next day they made the call to New York Child Welfare Services.
The End
So, in conclusion, this is worth reading. I enjoyed re-reading this as I'd forgotten nearly everything and love rediscovering old stories in this way. Ellen Conford is an unsung hero in YA literature. The plot and characterization drive the story, dark as it sometimes gets. There is mild swearing and the sexual assault scenes are kept to PG since PG-13 is still a few years away! I would not recommend this to anyone under age 14 or so but if I had a daughter that accidently stumbled on this I would hope she would come to me and we could have a healthy discussion about safe dating practices and how to defend oneself in case of unwanted advances.
January 16, 2023
I've been re-reading some books I remember from childhood and this is a strange one. I'm sure I found this at the thrift store and that my parents had no idea what it was about or they would probably not have let me read it. I remember thinking it was terrifying that this girl was on her own and didn't have any safe adults to trust, and also being fascinated enough to remember her circumstances all these years later. It was one of those early YA books that was pretty straightforward with adult themes.
May 9, 2025
I read this book when I was about 12, and the memory of the book stayed with me for a long time.
Flash forward 20 years later and I go to the subreddit r/whatsthebookcalled to find the name of this book. And I find it!
As a preteen, this character seemed so grown-up to me. Reading as an adult, it definitely hits different, and I see how young and naïve the character is. But I was still rooting for her to succeed and live her dreams.
Flash forward 20 years later and I go to the subreddit r/whatsthebookcalled to find the name of this book. And I find it!
As a preteen, this character seemed so grown-up to me. Reading as an adult, it definitely hits different, and I see how young and naïve the character is. But I was still rooting for her to succeed and live her dreams.
August 16, 2023
I miss Ellen Conford. I have read several of her books, loved her since 1980, and this was the first book where I remember reading a blurb. The funny thing is that I met some people from Massapequa at a tournament Ms. Conford would have enjoyed competing in. They helped me get her address, I wrote a fan letter and she replied via engraved personalized card. I suffused snd swooned.
August 31, 2013
Recommended by my oldest friend. This is rather a harrowing story with an unusual heroine. The descriptions of clothes, make up and hairstyles make it a teen novel, the very adult situations this poor girl gets into make it one I wouldn't share with my girls when they are teens. I am not sure what my reaction to the book would have been when I was the right audience age, but as a mom I was holding my breath worrying about the poor girl the whole book!
Read
March 28, 2019This was so great. I got this book in 1982, and reading it again made me remember why I loved Ellen Conford as a kid!
September 28, 2012
Classic 1980s fiction featuring my favorite topics: foster care, a runaway, Hollywood and a strong female protagonist. I read this as a teen and was crazy for it.
Read
May 31, 2013I read this in elementary school; it's one of those books I had completely forgotten the title of, but have thought of from time to time.
November 24, 2013
Here is the link to my review: http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/201...
December 9, 2013
In which a naive girl makes a break for her dreams and miraculously doesn't get killed.
An old classic, apparently. Not awfully written, but YA through and through.
An old classic, apparently. Not awfully written, but YA through and through.
October 17, 2014
Wow! What a truly great book! I listened to the audiobook but I know so many of my girlfriends and students will like this one I'm trying to track down a print version.
January 18, 2008
great book about a girl with dreams and a heart to follow them
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews