April 2013, Puffin, 224 pages, Paperback, Review copy
Themes: performing
arts, boarding school life, sharing a bedroom with others, nerves, insecurity,
never feeling good enough, not having an outstanding talent, being deaf, mean
girl, striking a chord with another due to circumstances, badly breaking the
rules, the truth in acting, tough ballet classes, making mistakes, finding out
who you really are, bonds of friendship, saying sorry, looking to the future,
unexpected opportunities
Content: teen
romance, bullying, lots of humour
Summary from Puffin
Dreams are made and stars are born at the Arcadia School of Performing Arts.
Has Jess got what it takes?
Jessica Bailey's mum has left, her dad's moving abroad for work and Jess is starting over at boarding school. At first she's unsure of herself - then she meets her roommates and begins to feel at home.
But standards at Arcadia are high, and Jess soon starts to doubt her talents. She can't dance like Spike or sing like Ash and she doesn't have Foxy's style...
So when an amazing chance comes her way, she knows she has to take it...
Four friends dreaming of becoming... Stars.
Nayuleska's thoughts
I see the
word boarding school and I go yay! I went yay a lot while reading Jessica and
co's adventures. I loved how painfully unsure she was of everything, how she
didn't feel like she belonged there. Jess's emotions are easy to relate to,
including the sheer joy when an awesome thing happens, a whirlwind of anger and
dread when confronted with an issue that changes her home life, her compassion
in reaching out to a not exactly nice person, how she tentatively opens up to
her new friends..The only time I thought she was an idiot was the romance side
of things, but that's rarely something I'm interested in.
I love the distinct natures of the teachers who are rather unpredictable, I love the strength Spike has to counter prejudice for being deaf as well as her dancing talent, how Ash lives in the area I live, and I love how Foxy drag Jess into her wild plans which provide a huge learning experience for the four teen girls whose lives I'm eagerly diving into in book 2 just as soon as I've finished this review!
I love the distinct natures of the teachers who are rather unpredictable, I love the strength Spike has to counter prejudice for being deaf as well as her dancing talent, how Ash lives in the area I live, and I love how Foxy drag Jess into her wild plans which provide a huge learning experience for the four teen girls whose lives I'm eagerly diving into in book 2 just as soon as I've finished this review!
Suggested
read
Another
really awesome boarding school series is School Friends by Ann Bryant which includes Party at Silver Spires (Children's, 9 years +, 10E/10E)
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