Introduction

It's Prohibition. It's Philadelphia. And Jersey Leo doesn't fit in.

Jersey is an albino of mixed race. Known as "Snowball" on the street, he tends bar at a speakeasy the locals call the Ink Well. There, he's considered a hero for having saved the life of a young boy. But when his old grade school buddy, Aaron Garvey, calls from death row and asks for one last favor, all hell breaks loose.

Jersey finds himself running from a band of crooked cops, hiding an escaped convict in the Ink Well, and reuniting with his grammar school crush--the now sultry Myra Banks, who has shed a club foot and become a speakeasy siren. Through it all, Jersey tries to safeguard the Ink Well with no help other than his ragtag group of friends: his ex-boxing-champion father, Ernie Leo; the street-savvy Johalis; a dim-witted dockworker named Homer; and the dubious palm reader Madame Curio. With them, Jersey digs for the truth about his friend Aaron Garvey--and winds up discovering a few things about himself.

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Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Newspapers create heroes. Sex months ago, they created me. On Christmas, the Inquirer turned me—a twenty-four-year-old albino with chalk-white skin, kinky yellow hair, and fluttering green eyes—into the toast of Philadelphia. It took all of eight words to undo a lifetime of insults. Son of Former Boxing Champ Saves Kidnapped Boy. That headline, along with two columns of ink and a three-inch shot of my glorious mug, filled the upper-right corner of the broadsheet, pushing Aaron Garvey's date with the electric chair down below the fold. It was a snowy morning, but every newsboy in the city had that paper hoisted over his head. Now it hangs on the wall behind me as I work the bar at a speakeasy the locals call the Ink Well. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

In what ways does Jersey's albinism affect his decisions?

Discuss how Jersey let Myra affect his judgement--and how Myra let Jersey affect hers.

How big a role does Jersey's father play in his life?

What does Jersey want out of life--and whose opinion matters most to him?

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