Stacy Nockowitz is a middle school librarian and former language arts teacher. She received her bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and holds master’s degrees from Columbia University Teachers College and Kent State University. Stacy lives in central Ohio with her husband and their silly dog, Lily. The Prince of Steel Pier is her first novel.

A young teen falls in with the mob, and learns a lesson about what kind of person he wants to be.

In The Prince of Steel Pier, Joey Goodman is spending the summer at his grandparents’ struggling hotel in Atlantic City, a tourist destination on the decline. Nobody in Joey’s big Jewish family takes him seriously, so when Joey’s Skee-Ball skills land him an unusual job offer from a local mobster, he’s thrilled to be treated like “one of the guys,” and develops a major crush on an older girl in the process. Eventually disillusioned by the mob’s bravado, and ashamed of his own dishonesty, he recalls words of wisdom from his grandfather that finally resonate. Joey realizes where he really belongs: with his family, who drive him crazy, but where no one fights a battle alone. All it takes to get by is one’s wits…and a little help from one’s brothers.