Stephanie Barbé Hammer

Pretend Plumber Stephanie Barbé Hammer

Sarassine Anfang is a precocious, queer-curious Los Angeles teen, who grows so fed up with her wealthy, dysfunctional Jewish Hancock Park family that she decides to run away to her grandfather's Wilshire condo, and become a plumber. But her chocolate eating grandmother and her distracted parents have other ideas.




Pretend Plumber meshes the optimistic whimsy of the Oz books with a contemporary look at young, privileged teens in Southern California. Meshing a comical commentary on the wealthy of Los Angeles, magic, and a story of a sincere young person's awakening sexual identities and political conscience, this humorous adventure evolves into a serious story about responsibility, loyalty, and immigration justice. Pretend Plumber's heroine, Sarassine is an unusual person; she is urban, Jewish, neurodivergent, and probably bisexual. But her very uniqueness and her willingness to take a stand for the people she cares about make her lovable, and ultimately, admirable.