Fair Game: A Young Girl's Odyssey Through the Not-So-Fabulous Fifties

In the 1950s, on the football field, the dance floor or the back seat of the family Buick, all was fair in love and war. As a freshman in high school, Fran Gabino wandered onto the playing field looking for love in all the wrong faces. Like Delores Price in Wally Lamb's "She's Come Undone," Gabino exposes the inner ordeals of girl-hood, only this is the 1950's. Her exquisite teenage recollections practically giggle on the page. Like Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes," Gabino gives the reader full bodied, red blooded, sweating, in-the-flesh characters. Her attention to details of the era are superb.

The intriguing cast, set in hypnotic scenes of poverty and social change, weaves a fascinating tale of life in the 1950s. It's all in "Fair Game:" joy, love, happiness and delight; fear, loathing, bigotry and confusion. And if the compelling humanity of this grand story isn't enough, Gabino's innate storytelling ability carries the reader along effortlessly. Reviewer Kyle Eller said of her first book, "Crocodile Tears and Lipstick Smears," - "Gabino brings a secret weapon, a genuine gift for language. She writes with wit, verve and style."

The only thing that has changed is, Fran Gabino's gotten even better at telling her stories. "Fair Game" is a must read. Let the games begin!