Upstaged

by Patricia McCowan

Overview

Ellie is used to getting leading roles in her small-town school’s musicals, but her place at center stage disappears when her dad becomes the host of a breakfast TV show and they have to move to the big city. When Ellie auditions for—and lands—a spot with the Youth Works Theater Company, she comes up against a tight-knit group of talented, experienced and competitive triple-threat performers. Not only does she not get a lead, but she has to share a role with Marissa, a company veteran who seems determined to do all she can to outshine Ellie. Out of her depth and far from all that she’s known, Ellie wonders just what she has to do to stop feeling upstaged by everyone around her.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459810044
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Series:	Wicked Years #04
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	11 - 14 Years

About the Author

Patricia McCowan has written several novels and short stories that have appeared in YA anthologies, as well as in print and online magazines. Patricia lives in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, visit www.patriciamccowan.com.

Editorial Reviews

"A quick read, and the frequent references to current and classic musical titles will appeal to readers who fancy the limelight for themselves."

Booklist

"A good choice for high-low readers...recommended."

School Library Connection

In Upstaged, Ellie’s move from small-town to big-city center stage is more than just trying to score a role in the Youth Works Theater Company; it means overcoming some internal conflicts, such as jealousies and insecurities in order to be content with herself and those around her. The narrative is riddled with conflicts, both internal and external, that many teens will be able to understand. This hi/lo novel will appeal mostly to reluctant female readers. (Limelights) Reviewer: Lauren Straub; Ages 11 to 15.

VOYA, October 2016 (Vol. 39, No. 4) - Lauren Straub

2016-01-20
A stage-struck girl accustomed to getting the lead must face real competition when her dad moves her to Toronto. When Ellie's dad, who has begun hosting a morning television show, tells her about Toronto's Youth Works Theater Company, she checks them out and is frightened to learn that she must audition—something she never had to do at home. She meets Marissa, a good singer who's been with the company for three years and who treats Ellie like an amateur. She's thrilled to learn she got a good part in the upcoming show but worries when she learns that the role is double cast, and Marissa will be playing the same part on alternating nights. She's sure Marissa is trying to sabotage her throughout rehearsals and becomes equally certain that she is the better performer. When her dad tells her that his show will feature a singer from her show, she wants to be the one chosen. At last she and Marissa have a confrontation that forces Ellie to face some of her own weaknesses. McCowan provides her readers with an unreliable narrator, as Ellie, who certainly has real talent, frequently misreads the situation. She presents an accurate account of a theater company, with its off-site, dress, and technical rehearsals, and a convincingly diverse urban cast of secondary characters, although Ellie and Marissa are both white. A nifty story for theater fans. (Fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews