Josie has lived in the French Quarter of New Orleans since she was seven and her mother returned to the city to work for Willie Woodley, a madam running a house of prostitution. Now seventeen, Josie dreams of heading off to college in the North. If her mother has been extraordinarily selfish and unreliable through the years, Josie is fortunate that other adults have not, from Willie-who has been a steadfast if prickly source of love and support-to Willie's assistant Cokie to local bookseller and writer Charles Marlowe, whose son Patrick is her best friend. Josie's self-absorbed mother announces she's heading to Hollywood with her criminal boyfriend, Cincinnati, just after Josie learns the kind tourist who stopped by the shop the day before has been found dead at a local nightclub. One of Josie's jobs is cleaning each morning at Willie's, and in her mother's room she finds a watch inscribed to the dead man. She gets caught up in the man's death even as she tries to help Patrick preserve his father's dignity (Charlie is suffering from dementia) and tries to map her own future. With her sights set on going to Smith, Josie must decide how much of herself she is willing to compromise in pursuit of her dreams. Ruta Sepetys's novel set in 1950 New Orleans not only captures that time and place with literary distinction, but is populated with wonderfully realized characters in a story that is at once gritty and full of hope. (Age 14 and older)

"A haunting peek at the life of a teenage girl in 1950s New Orleans."--Entertainment Weekly

It's 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.

Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.

With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.

Praise for OUT OF THE EASY

"Sepetys writes with rawness and palpable emotional unease...the stakes are momentous."--The New York Times Book Review

"Street-smart, literary and compassionate... Atmospheric and assured...nicely paced novel."--Wall Street Journal

* "A surefire winner. Immensely satisfying."--Kirkus, starred review

New York Times bestseller
An Amazon Best Book of the Year 2013
A Kirkus Best Book of 2014
A Goodreads Best Young Adult Fiction Book of 2013
Yalsa Best Fiction for Young Adults nomination
Carnegie Medal Finalist