Chances (novel) blackout, a real event that Collins describes in some detail affects all the major characters either directly or indirectly. Gino's story begins in 1921 but backtracks to narrate details of when Gino's parent's, Paulo and Mira Santangelo emigrated to New York City from Italy in 1909 when Gino was three. From an early age, Gino takes to a life of crime, stealing a car at the age of fifteen and ending up in a juvenile home. Chances (novel) Chances is a 1981 novel by Jackie Collins and the first in her "Santangelo" novels series. The novel has three focal points,
Boss of the Pool are books in which "the young characters with learning difficulties...are not only the sketchiest of stereotypes, but demonised as well", but "Boss of the Pool", as well as Elizabeth Laird's Red Sky is "a 'caring' narrative": Boss of the Pool is a book "in which the focaliser becomes a better person because of his or her circumstances, although the catalyst could indeed have been any crisis, since the character with learning difficulties is only superficially presented." At least two teaching guides for using the book have been published. The National Library of New Zealand includes it in their list of