Starring Jules (in Drama-rama) by Beth Ain

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Ill. by Anne Keenan Higgins. Allen and Unwin, 2013. ISBN: 9781743314555.
This series is aimed at 7-10 year old girls with dreams of being a star. Jules Bloom is a 7 year old and potential movie star. Think a younger Judy Moody, with acting ability, who mixes the dramas of school with the vagaries of the professional acting world.
Drama-rama follows on from Starring Jules (as Herself). Jules is expecting to start filming her first film when the leading man breaks a leg causing it to be postponed. Jules is back to school with her new best friend Elinor and ex best friend Charlotte who Jules is sure wants her to fail as a star.
When her teacher, Ms Leon, announces that the class is to put on a little show for the moving up ceremony, Jules decides that she should not be the star but the director which will satisfy her two latest desires, to help Elinor be more outgoing and to boss Charlotte around. Then she is offered a role as the youngest child in a pilot for a family sitcom for television, the filming of which clashes with the school show.
Jules needs to overcome her nerves about being able to play her role, find a way to fit in with her new television family and accept the fact that relations at school are not going as well as she expects. She can only do her best, with a little pizzazz, and let her friends be themselves.
Messages of confidence, resilience and individuality are woven through the story as well as the value of friendship.
Sue Keane

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