Ill Take Everything You Have, James Klise
Ill Take Everything You Have, James Klise
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

I'll Take Everything You Have

Author: James Klise

Narrator: Will Collyer

Unabridged: 7 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/28/2023


Synopsis

From an Edgar Award-winning author, this historical noir novel follows the life-changing summer of sixteen-year-old Joe Garbe as he discovers queer community in 1930s Chicago and gets caught up in the city's crooked underbelly.
 
In the summer of 1934, Joe Garbe arrives in Chicago with one goal: Earn enough money to get out of debt and save the family farm. Joe’s cousin sets him up with a hotel job, then proposes a sketchy scheme to make a lot more money fast. While running his con, Joe finds himself splitting time between Eddie, a handsome flirt on a delivery truck, and Raymond, a carefree rich kid who shows Joe the eye-opening queer life around every corner of the big city.
 
Joe’s exposure to the surface of criminal Chicago pulls him into something darker than he could have imagined. When danger closes in—from gangsters, the police, and people he thought were friends—Joe needs to pack up and get lost. But before he can figure out where to go, he has to decide who he wants to be.
 
I’ll Take Everything You Have is a vivid portrayal of queer coming of age in Depression-era Chicago, and a timeless story of trying to make your future bright when the rest of the world is dead set on keeping it hidden in the dark.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Marieke on February 28, 2023

I’ll Take Everything You Have is not your usual gay YA novel. Set in 1934 in Chicago, it pictures a sixteen-year-old boy working in Chicago during the summer to earn money so he can help his mom pay off the debts of their farm. In Chicago, he meets two boys, Eddie, who delivers liquor to hotels, and......more

Goodreads review by ash (smokedshelves) on February 27, 2023

thank you to algonquin young readers for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. aw man, i don’t even know how to start this one… let’s just say that this was not what i expected. it’s not that it wasn’t what it pitched, it was… we’re following joe who moves to chicago to support his fam......more

Goodreads review by Carole on March 09, 2023

This review can also be found at [URL not allowed] I enjoyed this one! It did take a bit before the story really hooked me but once it did, I had a hard time putting it down. Joe goes to Chicago to make some money to send back home to his mother and save their farm. Times are hard and Jo......more

Goodreads review by Todd on April 10, 2023

Finally something different for readers of YA, after the past few years of essentially the same template and its variations. Chicago in the summer of 1934 is vividly depicted in this novel, with a cast of believable characters led by the protagonist Joe, equal parts naive farm kid, while fast learni......more

Goodreads review by Stacey on August 02, 2023

I love when I stumble upon books that aren’t on my radar and enjoy them. This isn’t perfect and there are a lot of morally gray characters but I really enjoyed it and appreciated the setting in Chicago and the 30s and the references to Dillinger.......more


Quotes

"Through passionate, cinematic scenes, Klise poignantly captures the fears and joys of being gay in this polished work of historical fiction. A transportive, thrillingly queer adventure."
 —Kirkus Reviews, starred review