By James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
4RBooks: 4/6, grades 5-8
Amazon rating: 4.6/5, grade level 3-7
Good Reads: 4.26/5
Common Sense Media: not yet reviewed
300 pages
Synopsis:
Just when Jacky thinks her summer is finally going to be all about relaxing and enjoying the New Jersey boardwalk and beach, her friend from the Shakespeare play, famous actress Latoya Sherron, offers her a chance to go to a drama camp for three weeks. It will be fully paid for. Jacky is reluctant at first but decides to give it a shot.
When she gets there, she makes friends with Brooklyn, a fabulous dancer, Brandon, a comedian, and Michael, a wonderful singer who’s stuck doing costume design. She also learns that she will have to live in the shadow of Ashely, the camp diva, who is the star of every performance for camp director, Mr. Beasley.
Over the three weeks Jacky stars as an egg in one skit, the spotlight girl for another, and then writes and stars in a Saturday Night Live type skit with her best friends. She will also have to be rescued from a tree by the fire department, get booted from a dance, show, be regularly reprimanded by the camp staff, and be sent home… only to be allowed to come back and finish her three weeks.
Jacky eventually becomes an award-winning actress as an adult, and this is just a part of her story as told to her future daughters.
Parental Guidance: low
Jacky and Bob have an eating contest on the boardwalk to see who would throw up first.
One camper is the epitome of a prima donna diva mean girl and she is supported by the camp director in everything she does.
Jacky gets upset and climbs to the top of a tree. She has to be rescued by the fire department.
The camp director “outs” Jacky as a charity camper, only there because of somebody else’s money.
The camp director goes out of his way to thwart the ambitions and dreams of most of the campers, except for his star student.
Recommendation:
This is the third book in the Jack Ha-Ha series. I enjoyed the first two more, but this was still a fun read. It is a great story for students who like acting, the theater, and comedy. There are many insights into putting on a show, making friends in the cast, and putting up with egotistical stars. It is also an effective tale for teaching children to persevere through struggles and not to give up.
The book is illustrated, and the drawings add fun and depth to the story. The story is well paced with short chapters that make it an easy read. It would be fine for an elementary classroom, but since the characters are all 12 and older, it’s probably best thought of as a middle school read.
It will be interesting to see if Mr. Patterson and Mr. Grabenstein decide to revisit Jacky again, this time as a teenager.
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