Federle,
Tim. Better
Nate Than Ever. Simon & Schuster/ 2013 275p $16.99 978-1-4424-6091-1 ms/jr Realistic Fiction VG
Thirteen-year-old Nate lives to win a role on ET:
The Musical on Broadway. His best
friend Libby encourages him to take a bus to New York City, where he learns that
his dream will not be easy to achieve. With
his parents
away and big brother Anthony at a track meet, Nate’s chances of escaping
Jankburg, Pennsylvania, are excellent. He has it
timed perfectly. However, he greatly
underestimates all of the obstacles he will encounter when he arrives in New
York City! Instead of falling flat on
his face, Nate combines his comedic resourcefulness with his creativity and
lands a call-back! Examples of his
obstacles include having no formal dance experience, having no formal acting experience and having no parent to
sign for him! Just when he departs the
audition dejectedly, his Aunt Heidi appears and signs for him,
and he gets a chance to audition. (Back home, Libby
aptly problem-solved his biggest obstacle by telling
Anthony what was transpiring in New York City, and together they found out the
whereabouts of the savior Aunt Heidi.) Armed
with a parental figure, Nathan auditions, and he succeeds in getting his callback by acting
out every role in the scene!
Everybody who has a dream that seems to
be insurmountable will profit by reading this book! Nate’s tenacious spirit combines with some
luck and some talent to help him bounce back after several rejections. In the end, there is no end! The phone call with the decision of a
lifetime does not tell the reader whether or not Nathan got the role, and the
reader will have to wait for Book Two. If
there is no promise of a second book, readers will be disappointed. Nevertheless, the New York City adventures combined with Nate’s sense of humor
and side comments are certain to entertain!
Show business –
Fiction --Martha Squaresky(2), Martha
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