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Booklists
Lists of books, many of which received at least one starred review (indicating a work of unusual merit) from the following review sources: Booklist , Publisher's Weekly (PW), Kirkus and Library Journal (LJ). Additional titles of interest may be included on the lists. Titles are generally listed alphabetically by author.
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Booklists and Suggested Reading
Prohibition Booklist
Page Modified: April 5, 2008
Fiction (all genres) and Nonfiction about Prohibition
Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.
Fiction
- True Detective
Author: Collins, Max Allan
Publisher: St Martins $ 14.95 ISBN: 0312820518Date: 1983
Nate Heller is a cop trying to stay straight in one of the most corrupt places imaginable: Prohibition-era Chicago. When he won't sell out, he's forced to quit the force and become a private investigator. His first client is Al Capone. His best friend is Elliot Ness. His most important order of business is staying alive.
Updated 10.11.05 - One Sunday Morning
Author: Ephron, Amy
Publisher: Morrow $ 21.95 ISBN: 0060585528 Date: 2005
Kirkus Booklist
This mesmerizing tale of wealth, society, and scandal set in Jazz Age New York and Paris in the 1920s is from the celebrated author of A Cup of Tea.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction
Updated 3.10.05 - Whiskey River
Author: Estleman, Loren D.
Publisher: Bantam $ 17.95 ISBN: 0553070428 Date: 1990
It's 1931, the end of Prohibition is fast approaching, and Detroit is a killing field where members of warring gangs slaughter one another over millions of dollars worth of liquor smuggled to the United States over the Canadian border. The stakes are high, and the real struggle is for control of the machine that runs Detroit.
Updated 10.11.05 - High on a Hill
Author: Garlock, Dorothy
Publisher: Warner $ 21.45 ISBN: 044652946X Date: 2002
From the bestselling author of The Edge of Town comes a novel about a young girl who must choose between a bootlegging father and the lawman on his trail.
Updated 10.11.05 - The Jazz Bird
Author: Holden, Craig
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25 ISBN: 0743212967 Date: 2002
Library Journal
Based on a true story, The Jazz Bird is at once a love story, a crime novel, and the tale of the courtroom battle between two powerful men whose respective futures hang in the balance, set at the apex of that time of glitz and innocence known as the Jazz Age.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction Stars
Updated 10/23/01 - 7,000 Clams
Author: Irby, Lee
Publisher: Doubleday $ 23.95 ISBN: 0385511892 Date: 2005
LJ
Unlucky bootlegger Frank Hearn is looking for the big score, but he'll have to contend with hustlers, mobsters, Babe Ruth, and a certain dangerous blonde to do so. In his fiction debut, Irby takes readers on a wild ride through the Roaring '20s, complete with colorful characters, sizzling style, and bathtub gin.
Suggested Reading: Historical Fiction | Debuts
Updated 2.16.05 - The Moonshine War
Author: Leonard, Elmore
It was Prohibition, and a big, hell-raising Son Martin had himself something special: $125,000 worth of Kentucky's finest home-made whiskey, no one was going to steal it. Because when it came to shooting, fighting, and outsmarting the Big Boys, Son Martin wasn't just good. He was bad . . .dangerous. . . and deadly.
Updated 10.11.05 -
Murder Me Now:
Olivia Brown
Author: Meyers, Annette
Publisher: Mysterious $ 23.95 ISBN: 0892966955 Date: 2001
PW
Booklist
Greenwich Village is decked with snow and mistletoe in December of 1920. Prohibition may be the law, but the speakeasies are crowded with writers and artists, friends and lovers. In the midst of all this conviviality, poet-sleuth Olivia Brown once again finds herself drawn into murder; this time it is the mysterious death of a young nanny, who is employed by one of Olivia's friends.
Suggested Reading: Historical Mystery Stars | Poets
Updated 11/15/00 - The Vintage
Author: Pedersen Lloyd
Publisher: Joyce & Company $ 26 ISBN: 0965702901Date: 1998
This unusual book, bringing vividly to life a stormy romance and intrigue within a California wine family after the repeal of Prohibititon, is dominated by a rich variety of characters. With insatiable curiosity the author follows them, watches, and probes their behavior while catching the essence of rare moments which shape and color this compelling novel. As the vintner samples, sniffs, and sips the first new wine to discover what the vintage has brought, so this book can be read to discover the taste left upon the mind.
Updated 10.11.05 - The Season of Open Water
Author: Tripp, Dawn Clifton
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 1400061873 Date: 2005
From the critically acclaimed author of Moon Tide comes a mesmerizing novel of love and violence, family and betrayal. Tripp pens the passionate, searing story of a young woman coming of age in a New England seacoast town that is swept up in the dangerous trade of rumrunning.
Updated 10.11.05 - Bill
Author: Reaver, Chip
Publisher: Delacorte $ 15.95 ISBN: Date: 1994
Booklist Kirkus SLJ
Jessica Gates lives with her father in the backwoods of Kentucky, She is accustomed to her father's frequent absences--trips he takes to distill and sell bootleg liquor. Jessie's best friend is Bill, her dog. When her father is arrested by the local revenue agent, Jessie must come up with a plan to raise bail. A terrific girl-and-her-dog story by a two-time Edgar Award-winning author.
Grades: 5+ Category: Fiction | Historical - Moonshiner's Son
Author: Reeder, Carolyn
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 14.95 ISBN: 0027758052 Date: 1993
An award-winning author brings Prohibition-era Virginia to life in this story of Tom whose father learned moonshining from his father and who plans to pass the art down to Tom. When Tom makes the decision not to follow in his father's footsteps, standing up to Pa is the most difficult thing he's ever done.
Grades: 3-7 Category: Fiction | Historical
For Kids
Nonfiction
- The Speakeasies of 1932
Author: Hirschfeld, Al
Publisher: Applause $ 32.95 ISBN: 1557835187 Date: 2003
LJ
Best known for his caricatures of celebrities, noted artist and historian Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) offers through his familiar artwork a glimpse into many of New York's infamous Prohibition gin mills, along with the recipe for each of the speakeasy's cocktail claim to fame.
Updated 10.11.05
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