The Boy in the Red Dress

Gr 9 Up–It’s New Year’s Eve 1929, and street-smart teen Millie Coleman is running her aunt’s lowbrow speakeasy in New Orleans, ensuring the hooch is flowing and her customers are happy while watching her best friend, Marion, nee Robert, delight audiences with song when he takes the stage in a gorgeous red dress. When a wealthy debutante from Marion’s past plunges to her death from the club’s balcony, Millie springs into action to protect him and find the killer. With help from barmaid and sweetheart Olive, who has brown skin; Italian American friend Bennie; and her on-again, off-again mother, Millie uncovers the deceased’s secrets and risks her own safety to save Marion. Lambert’s debut YA mystery is a cohesive, fast-paced story that introduces readers to a unique time and place. Millie and Robert are white.