Review: Starring Jules As Herself by Beth Ain (ARC)

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Starring Jules As Herself. by Beth Ain. March 1, 2013. Scholastic. 160 pages. ISBN: 9780545443524
In the tradition of Cinderella Smith, Dessert Schneider, Allie Finkle, and Stella Batts comes Jules Bloom, a spirited new chapter book heroine with a big personality. Most of the time, she is the big sister of four-year-old Big Henry, the sometimes best friend of Charlotte, a writer of lists (during freewriting) and a digger of worms (during recess.) One day, while she is out at a restaurant with her family Jules is discovered by a talent scout who wants her to audition for a commercial. She is very excited, until she learns the commercial is for an orange mouthwash. Jules can't eat or drink anything orange without gagging! It's a good thing Jules can always call on Grandma Gilda, who teaches her that sometimes the only thing you can do in a difficult situation is improvise.

This is an extremely well-written chapter book with a fresh style that sets it apart from others of its genre. Author Beth Ain has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and her characters come alive from the moment they begin to speak. From the first chapter where Jules sings her own made-up jingle for fizzy ice cream, she sounds just like a real seven-year-old girl, with all the energy and imagination kids have at that age. Her interactions with her classmates are perfectly child-like, as are her difficulties with Charlotte, who has recently started acting bossy and mean toward Jules and anyone Jules spends time with. I think it is easy to write a chapter book about what you think a second grader is like, but it is much more difficult to write one that so completely represents the second grade experience. Beth Ain has nailed it in her very first book.

Jules Bloom is the perfect combination of the sweetness of Stella Batts and Cinderella Smith, the stubbornness of Dessert and Clementine, and the high literary quality of The Stories Julian Tells and  the Ramona series. The lively writing absolutely sparkles and Jules all but dances off the page.   I read a review on another site that called the story "generically unmemorable" and I truly think nothing could be further from the truth. This book kept me entertained from beginning to end, and I think it would be even more likely to do so for a child in the target age group.

Starring Jules As Herself will hit shelves on March 1. The second book of the Starring Jules series, Starring Jules in Drama-Rama comes out in September. Learn more about Beth Ain (whose reading interests strongly mirror my own) on her website.

I received a digital ARC of Starring Jules as Herself from Scholastic via NetGalley. This ARC did not include the final artwork.
For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.