Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Not Starring Zadie Louise by Joy McCullough - ADVISABLE

Not Starring Zadie Louise
by Joy McCullough
. 247 pages. Atheneum (Simon and Schuster). 2022. $18

Content: G

BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Family budget cuts have left 10yo Zadie Louise Gonzalez stuck at Bainbridge Youth Theater this summer instead of tae kwon do and Science Kidz camp like last year. Her mom is the director of BYT, so she and her older sister 12yo Lulu can spend the summer there. Lulu is thrilled - she loves acting and is excited about this year's show, but Zadie isn't at all interested in performing, she'd rather learn to work the light board - but her mother says tech is off limits for kids. Zadie helps where she can - handing out snacks and staying out of the way. The future of the youth theater program is in doubt, so this show has to be perfect. But Zadie's help often turns into a disaster.

Theater school is so much fun, and I loved McCullough's viewpoint. The mean girls who don't like their part, the bored director's kid getting in trouble, even the costume parade - it fealt authentic and realistic. Although the trouble Zadie caused was unintended, it was still pretty bad stuff to happen (she nearly fell from the light rail - oh my heart!) the adults handled it sensibly and Zadie didn't get away with anything. Theater kids will like "Not Staring Zadie Louise". Zadie is American, her father is Guatemalan, her grandmother is Scandinavian.

Lisa Librarian

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