Carter's Big Break

by Brent Crawford

Overview

After surviving freshman year (just barely), Carter is craving his summer break. Unfortunately, when he and his girlfriend, Abby, part ways, it looks as though summer just might break him. Things start to look up when he's unexpectedly cast in an independent film opposite the world's biggest tween sensation, Hilary Idaho. With Hollywood knocking on his door, Carter gets a taste of the good life. But as the film spirals out of control, he begins to fear that he's not the "somebody" he thinks he is and more the "nobody" he's sure he always has been.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781423144328
Publisher:	Disney Press
Publication date:	06/01/2010
Series:	Carter Novel
Sold by:	DISNEY PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE -EBKS
Format:	eBook
File size:	497 KB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Brent Crawford was born in Kansas, moved to L.A. and N.Y.C. to pursue an acting career. He worked in theatre, film, TV and commercials (check it out on IMDB.com). He’s written numerous plays and scripts, as well as, waited tables, bartended, sold hardware and clothing, worked construction and even dumped airplane toilets (where do you think it goes?). He’s now a pro writer, back in Kansas (yeah!). This is his first YA novel.

Editorial Reviews

Carter's hometown is the location for tween sensation Hilary Idaho's latest feature film. Since the casting director is on a tight budget, fourteen-year-old Carter and some of his fellow high school drama students are offered a thrilling, unexpected chance to perform in a Hollywood movie. This novel picks up where the chronicle of Carter's freshman year, Carter Finally Gets It (Disney Hyperion, 2009/VOYA April 2009) left off. Now the hyperactive hero is on summer vacation, bringing with him onto the movie set his ADD impulses, his unpredictable relationship with sometime-girlfriend Abby, and his gross, goofy antics with a scruffy gang of male accomplices. Narrating in present tense, Carter invites the reader to fully experience the distracted brain, raging hormones, and clumsy body of an early teen. Gross-out humor, profanity, and obsessive comments on female bodies are pervasive, literally from the first page to the last. By his own admission, Carter is a shallow ignoramus (barely passing 9th grade), but his redeeming features include a good heart and a serious dedication to the craft of acting. Author Brent Crawford's own experience working in theater, film, and television comes through in the many authentic details of film production that Carter learns on the set. The industry's exploitation of child stars and the terrible pressures of celebrity life are exemplified in the person of Hilary Idaho, who lives on the brink of chemical-assisted emotional breakdowns. Carter's efforts to support Hilary help him to gain the perspective that his own problems are manageable, after all. Reviewer: Walter Hogan

VOYA - Walter Hogan

Gr 8 Up—In this hilarious sequel to Carter Finally Gets It (Hyperion, 2009), readers once again meet up with Will Carter, 14, who has a terrific girlfriend, Abby, and has just come off a terrific run playing Sky Masterson in his school's performance of Guys and Dolls. Carter thinks everything is going his way when he's cast as the lead in an independent film, but he ends up losing his girlfriend in the process. Fortunately, his new costar just happens to be Hilary Idaho, a Miley Cyrus-type character who ends up making Carter forget all about Abby—or does she? As Carter gets to know Hilary, he finds things hidden beneath her public persona that he's not sure he wants to know about. Plus, making a movie is a lot harder than it looks, especially when his ex-girlfriend is cast as Hilary's stand-in. Carter is a character who will definitely appeal to boys—he's crass, outspoken, and obsessed with T & A. This fast and fun read will definitely appeal to reluctant readers who want to see the underdog succeed in life and love. A must-have, especially where the first book is popular.—Traci Glass, Eugene Public Library, OR

School Library Journal

Narrowly scraping through his freshman year, 14-year-old Will Carter is looking forward to swimming with his buddies and making out with his girlfriend, Abby. Following a disastrous movie date, Carter finds himself both single and signed onto a movie project with the hot tween starlet Hilary Idaho. High-strung producers, on-set conflicts and celebrity drama make for one memorable summer. Crawford brings the same manic voice and frantic pacing that marked this book's predecessor, Carter Finally Gets It (2009). Will is no more mature than in the earlier work, and although the scenarios in which he finds himself require that readers make some serious investment in credulity, the humor is well intentioned and appealing. The gentle digs at the tween-entertainment juggernaut will resonate and may stimulate discussion. No literary blockbuster, this sophomore novel nevertheless propels Carter further along in reader fandom. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews