Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Federle, Tim. Better Nate Than Ever.


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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