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Based on a true story, an impassioned and propulsive debut novel about a headstrong girl from Far Rockaway, Queens, who is trying to find her place in the world

Written in an urban vernacular that’s electrifying and intimate, On the Come Up introduces a heroine who is irrepressible, dynamic, and unstintingly honest. Thirteen-year-old AnnMarie Walker dreams of a world beyond Far Rockaway, where the sway of the neighborhood keeps her tied to old ideas about success. While attending a school for pregnant teens, AnnMarie comes across a flyer advertising movie auditions in Manhattan. Astonishingly, improbably, and four months before she’s due to give birth — she lands a lead role. For a time, AnnMarie soars — acting for the camera, flying to the Sundance Film Festival, seeing her face on screen. But when the film fades from view and the realities of her life set in, AnnMarie’s grit and determination are the only tools she has left to keep her moving forward. Told with remarkable compassion, On The Come Up is a triumphant novel of aspiration and inspiration that powerfully illuminates the lives of the urban unseen. Like Sapphire’s Precious Jones, AnnMarie Walker will talk herself off the page and into your heart.