ALLIE FINKLE’S RULES FOR GIRLS: Book Four – Stage Fright
by Meg Cabot
Scholastic Inc.
Hardcover: 9780545040457
Paperback: 9780545040464
Ages 9-12
240 pages
School plays are as much a part of one's youthful educational growth as math textbooks and book reports. Everyone remembers what it was like to be a tree, a candle, or a donkey in the Christmas pageant. But when Allie Finkle's homeroom announces that these fourth graders are to be in an original, all-green play by their teacher called Princess Penelope and the Realm of Recycling, it becomes very clear that Allie will experience many things during this process, including stage fright.
Allie and her friends all seem to be vying for different roles, until it becomes clear that other classmates will fight her for the part of the esteemed Princess Penelope. Of course, it's ultimately up to the teacher to do the casting, and the students find themselves having to make do with a wide variety of parts they did not originally want to play. Allie, for example, gets what she thinks is the worst possible role: after what she considered a remarkable and very effective audition, she is cast as the evil stepmother. What an injustice! How exactly will she manage to turn this into something special when one of her best friends gets the lead role that she was hoping for? Since Allie's mom has a new job as the local film critic on TV, she assumed that she would be chosen for the princess, not the part of the wickedest character in the story!
How will young Allie deal with this turn of events? Will she overcome her stage fright and deliver a memorable performance, or will her nerves get the better of her?
It is with typical aplomb and consideration of the details of a young girl's days and nights that Meg Cabot looks into this important event as if she had all the investigative tools of a “CSI” show. Like Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby or Marc Brown's Arthur Read, Allie is a sweet kid who doesn't want to make waves, but, at the same time, doesn't necessarily just shrug off her anger and disappointment. She uses it and makes what is essentially a slight plot much richer and more interesting for the angst she experiences during this rite of passage.
And it’s not only the book’s plot that is interesting --- the play itself is pretty funny, too! How can you not laugh when a student comes out on stage playing the “unplug-when-not-in-use unicorn”? While making the reader chuckle, Cabot at the same time is poking a little fun at our green obsession and stressing how important it is to make these ideals accessible to this generation and integrate them into their daily consciousness. With that, she has taken the time-worn idea of a fun girls' series and turned it into a mirror on the obsessive and contemplative elements of Allie's world, which is really a very modern place to be. STAGE FRIGHT is a wonderful addition to the three previous books in this series, all of which will make girls Allie's age smile with recognition.
--- Reviewed by Jana Siciliano
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