First published 2014
Perry Gonzalez stands out at her Beverly Hills high school. She's a full blooded Latina on scholarship, living in a cramped apartment with her mother while her classmates arrive in chauffeured cars. Perry has ambitions beyond her circumstances. She wants to attend Bennington College, and her collection of seven deadly stories will get her there. To earn money, she babysits and tutors the wealthy neighborhood teenagers. Through this work, she witnesses the seven deadly sins play out in disturbing ways among the privileged youth. She sees lust for the Judas Brothers lead to electrocution at a private concert. She observes wrath create twisted new family relationships. She watches a young Bernie Madoff follower design a Ponzi scheme that targets his own grandmother. Each deadly sin Perry encounters becomes material for her writing, but the dark realities she uncovers challenge her understanding of the world she's trying to enter.
Genres: literary-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Beverly Hills, Bennington College
Period: 21st-century
199 pages · Library Binding · Center Point Pub