This was everything I could want in a YA historical fiction story! I loved the writing and all of the characters, plus the setting was great, too!

I am an unabashed musical theater nerd.. So, no, it didn’t take much persuasion for me to pick up this story about a young girl from Nebraska coming to NYC to break onto the Broadway stage in the 1950’s at the height of classic musicals. But to my utter delight, this book explores the little-known world of industrial musicals which were a THING before television was in every American home. Add to this the pitch-perfect coming-of-age storyline where Mazie must learn to grow and change and toughen up to achieve her dreams while not losing her true self in the process. A love letter to the farms of Nebraska and the people who work there.

In 1950’s Nebraska, Mazie dreams of Broadway. But to follow her dreams, she’ll have to leave behind Jesse, the boy she loves who dreams of a career as a rocket scientist, but has accepted that his destiny is to run the family farm. Mazie doesn’t want a life as a farm wife, and runs off to NYC days before her high school graduation to see if she can make it on stage, breaking both their hearts.

Mazie’s got a heart of gold, and I was rooting for her to find her way. She has to learn to persevere through rejection and homesickness while dodging advances from sleazy directors.

It was a fascinating look at both 1950’s Broadway and the ties that bound girls like Mazie to their families and rural Nebraska. It also dove into the pressures the girls faced to have a certain “look” in addition to their talent, and Mazie’s struggle to figure out if she could stay true to who she was while still making it in show biz.

I recommend this book for anyone who’s ever dreamed of Broadway or a life beyond their small hometown.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Really liked this one a lot! Great YA historical fiction. We all know the classic "girl from the small town goes off to the big city to make it big" story and this book takes it in a new, different direction. There's a lot of heart in this story and it leaves you with a smile on your face.

Mazie was a great little book that to takes you back to the 50's, and I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. Mazie is a small town girl from Nebraska who dreams of making it big in New York City on Broadway. The small town farmers wife of a life is not something she wants, even though she loves a farmers son named Jesse. Jesse is brilliant, and deserves more than being stuck on a farm he doesn't want to takeover. Even so, Mazie follows her dreams instead of heart, and makes a life for herself in New York. While losing herself, losing hope, finding it all again, and back, it's a good story that takes you back in time.