Starring Me!

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian in North Wales,
Pennsylvania.

Ashley has just landed a role in a professional production of Joseph and
the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Her classmates are already treating
her like a celebrity, and when Mr. Cowles announces that the entire
Grade 3 class will be staging The Wizard of Oz, everyone agrees that
Ashley should be in charge. As the resident expert on plays Ashley
becomes the director and the star. From auditions to rehearsals she
makes sure everyone follows the proper procedure. In the manner of her
own gruff director, she expects discipline, demands compliance, and gets
angry and yells when things don’t go her way. It soon becomes apparent
in both productions that no one is having any fun and the performances
are not improving either. With a little direction from her teacher,
Ashley starts to consider her classmates feelings and discovers that
kindness and friendship are more important than being a star.

Young independent readers are offered insight into the challenges that
confront child performers both on and off the stage. The story focuses
on Ashley’s feelings and though she is both the villain and the
heroine, she is always the innocent child just trying to do her best
with some tough new situations and responsibilities. Cathy Miyata’s
prose is extremely well focused and straightforward with a nice touch of
descriptive detail. This chapter book will appeal most to primary-grade
girls interested in fiction about relationships. Recommended.