A make-or-break summer in 1930s Chicago takes a turn into noir in this riveting coming-of-age novel by award-winning author James Klise.
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. Joeβs 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.
Joeβs exposure to the surface of criminal Chicago pulls him into something darker than he could have imagined. When danger closes inβfrom gangsters, the police, and people he thought were friendsβJoe 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.
Iβll 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.
