American Thighs
Pushcart Prize Award-winning author Elizabeth Ellen’sAmerican Thighs tells the darkly comedic story of a thirty-one-year-old former child star’sjourney from Hollywood to Elkheart, Indiana, experiencing for the first time the off-screen life of a high school sophomore.Tatum Grant spent the first years of her life on various film sets and locations in Hollywood, never knowing a real childhood, before becoming impregnated by an older, award-winning actor. Fifteen years after his death, experiencing an existential crisis, Tatum leaves Hollywood, her mother and her daughter behind, on a quest to find herself. Posing as a 16-year-old student with the help of her daughter’sstolen identification, Tatum uses the talents she learned portraying various film characters to earn a spot on the cheer team, date a football player, and befriend the most popular girl at school.Like Tom Perrota’sElection, the novel is told through the voices of students and teachers at Dobson High, as well as social media influencers, actors,