Williams, Julie. Drama Queens in
the House. Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press 2014 426p $17.99 ISBN 978-1-59643-735-7 ms/hs Realistic fiction VG
Jessie is a talented sixteen-year-od
who is struggling to discover her place in the world. To
say that Jessie, who is growing up in the theater, is
surrounded by drama is an understatement! When she discovers that her father is cheating on her mother with another man, her safe
world comes apart. Jessie’s mom retreats
from everyone, including Jessie, who is left to deal with the issues
alone. How should she deal with her
parents’ separation/divorce? How can she
come to terms with her dad being gay? Is
her religious aunt correct? Is it the end of the world?
Some characters are so over-the-top that credibility is lost, and yet the emotions and relationships ring true. Desperate to keep her family together, Jessie faces one betrayal after another. Williams does a better job in sensitively handling the issues surrounding Jessie's father's homosexuality than she does in portraying the fundamentalist, religious aunt. Yet, when Jessie changes her perspective and broadens her definition of family, she ultimately comes to a place where she is comfortable in her own skin and with her family's newly forged relationships. And in doing so, she broadens the reader's view as well.
Some characters are so over-the-top that credibility is lost, and yet the emotions and relationships ring true. Desperate to keep her family together, Jessie faces one betrayal after another. Williams does a better job in sensitively handling the issues surrounding Jessie's father's homosexuality than she does in portraying the fundamentalist, religious aunt. Yet, when Jessie changes her perspective and broadens her definition of family, she ultimately comes to a place where she is comfortable in her own skin and with her family's newly forged relationships. And in doing so, she broadens the reader's view as well.
Summary: Jessie grew up surrounded by method actors and drama at the Jumble
Players Theater run by her parents. But
when her safe world begins to come apart, Jessie has to determine her place in
all the chaos.
Family-Fiction,
Theater-Fiction --Hilary
Welliver
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