What It Takes to Get to Vegas has been described by The Arizona Republic
as a juicy tale of ambition, passion and grit that is as much fun to
read as a good trash talk session with your best friend. Growing up
among the championship hopefuls and alleyway gladiators of East L.A.,
Rita Zapata sees in boxing a ticket to something better. At eighteen,
she's earned the title Queen of the Streetfighters. Then she meets
Billy, an enigmatic, intense fighter from Mexico, who begins
systematically clawing his way to the top. Their passionate connection
gives Rita two things she's never had: real love, and respect in the
neighborhood. From the alleys off Cesar Chavez Avenue to the carpeted
suites of Caesars Palace, Rita learns exactly what it takes to get to
Vegas, as Billy turns out to be the best thing that has ever happened to
her -- and the worst. In exuberant prose sparkling with wicked wit, Yxta
Maya Murray has given us a sass-talking, big-hearted heroine with a
story we will not soon forget. Frenetic, bittersweet, and often
hilarious ... Rita Zapata is who Holden Caulfield would want to be if he
were alive in 1999. -- The Boston Globe; From the get-go, [Yxta Maya
Murray] pulls you into her latest book with its flowing Spanglish and
bittersweet observations. -- Seventeen; Somewhere between a telenovela
and the passion of St. Theresa de Avila ... precise, hilarious, and
swinging ... Rita's world dance[s] around beside us after we put the
book down. -- New Times LA; Murray's elegant prose beckons those who
fear this land of urban blight to venture into it, to stay a while and
meet its citizens ... Stellar. -- Los Angeles Times Book Review
