Annabel the Actress Starring in Just a Little Extra

ANNOTATION

When she learns that a famous director is making a movie in her home town, ten-year-old Annabel is determined to get a part in it.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Annabel the Actress gets discovered!

Ok, so it's not exactly a starring role. When a movie company sets up in her neighborhood to film a scene, Annabel wins herself a part as an extra. All she has to do is scream — how could anything go wrong? Well, of course things don't go exactly as planned. But Annabel's mishaps just might give the director an idea...

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Childrens Literature

In the follow-up to Gorilla of My Dreams, Annabel discovers a movie, The Day After Doom, is being filmed right in her own town. Determined to be an extra, she practices terror in front of the mirror, watches terror on old movies, and manages to get near to the casting director. She stages a fright attack, is seen by the star, and given a chance to get a speaking part, or rather a screaming part. When she sees the final product, she is indeed in the movie but not quite in the way she had wished. Still, it's a start. Pure fantasy and wish fulfillment, the story nonetheless satisfies with crisp dialogue, characters who behave believably, and a small gloss on movie making. Annabel isn't paid, however, which probably violates someone's rules about child exploitation but it never comes up in the story. Renee Andriani's zippy black-line drawings add something to every page and make this an inviting read for second and third grade would-be actors. 2000, Simon & Schuster, Ages 7 to 10, $15.00. Reviewer: Susan Hepler—Children's Literature

School Library Journal

Gr 2-3-In this series installment, young Annabel doesn't just sit around waiting for her first big break. When she learns that a famous director is shooting some movie scenes in her hometown, she's sure she will be "discovered." Desperate to be noticed among all of the wanna-be extras, she fakes a fainting fit and is assisted by one of the stars. Once in front of the camera, she handles the work well. When the movie is shown on TV, the final version of the scene surprises her, providing a lesson for her future film career. If something is missing from this story, it may be a sense of Annabel's maturation. She's so self-centered and engrossed in her acting career that she's an inadequate friend and tiresome daughter, and there's no sign of any growth in her character. Andriani's pen-and-ink illustrations follow the story closely while they break up the text.-Pat Leach, Lincoln City Libraries, NE Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Conford's (Crush, 1999, etc.) wit twinkles in her delightful new chapter book that chronicles the return of Annabel, the aspiring actress who is about to get her "Big Break." "I've been waiting to be discovered for years," the ten-year-old tells the director of Day After Doom, a television movie that plans to use local citizens as extras. The movie is a scary thriller and Annabel, who desperately wants to be cast, spends the night practicing her "screaming, choking and fainting" so loudly and convincingly that she drives her father from the living room and gives herself a headache and a sore throat. On the big day, Annabel, along with her best friend Maggie and Maggie's older brother, join the throngs of people waiting to be cast as well as those hoping to get a glimpse of actress Winona McCall, who is starring in the movie. When the high-spirited Annabel finds out that her acting job is not the sure thing she thought it was, she stages a scene of her own, winning for herself if not a speaking part, then at least a screaming one. Annabel is an appealing creation, sassy and sunny, and Conford gets plenty of comic juice out of her gung-ho off-center perspective. The book also has a good time poking gentle fun at the acting community—when the director asks Annabel if she's eight, for example, Annabel tells him that she's ten, but that she "dressed young." Enhanced by Andriani's charming black-and-white drawings, younger girls in search of a funny, fast-paced chapter book need look no further.(Fiction. 7-10)