Mazie

Gr 7 Up–In 1959, white 17-year-old Mazie Butterfield is a farmer’s daughter with dreams of Broadway. Growing up, Mazie let everyone know her future was in New York City. But when her chance to follow that dream suddenly appears, she is confronted with the loss of everything she took for granted: her family, her close-knit small town, and her loving boyfriend. Once in New York, Mazie gets her first taste of city life and show business, neither of which match her lofty expectations. With her savings quickly dwindling, she hops from audition to audition looking for her big break and finding loneliness, doubt, and insecurity instead. As the teen continues on her path, she discovers the world is larger than she ever knew and slowly finds her own place in it. Readers get a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a struggling young actress and the hard work that goes into putting on a live show. The plot may not be the most original, but Mazie’s authenticity makes this novel stand out. Strip away the theater and you have a young girl trying to find her identity and determining how she wants the world to see her—a universal theme regardless of the century.