Description
Book SynopsisLondon, 1913. Fourteen-year-old Billy Bean is a thief. He’s also a talented street performer, and he’s picked up by Fred Karno’s music hall company, that features Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin leaves Karno for the movies, and Billy is sent to America to replace him. Billy also wants to work in movies, and soon he gets his lucky break. When his luck runs out and the movie career goes badly, he finds himself back on the streets, with nothing but his childhood skills and a cheeky grin to keep him from starvation.
Trade Review"Lewis is an adept storyteller with a terrific ear and a palpable love for his characters." David R. Roth, author of The Femme Fatale Hypothesis
"I could hear Billy and Clara telling their fascinating story and I just had to keep reading right to the end." Clare West, Joint Action for Herefordshire Libraries
"Billy Bean's story is told, like a ballad, via compelling snapshots from his colorful life. Readers will root for this scrappy hero doing whatever it takes to come up in life--even when he doesn't deserve it." David Michael Slater, author, Sparks
