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Here's How I See It--Here's How It Is (2009)

by Heather Henson(Favorite Author)

3.6 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1416949011 (ISBN13: 9781416949015)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

review 1: June Olivia Cantrell, called Junebug, is a 12 year old girl growing up in a family that runs a summer stock theater. Summer is Junebug's favorite time of year, the only time when she feels she can be herself, but this summer everything is different. Her mother and father are "taking a break," and her father takes on a young intern, Trace (or Thespis, as Junebug calls him), to help with her stagehand duties. Told from Junebug's perspective, the story is at turns amusing and heartwrenching, as the young girl struggles with her uncertain place in the world that summer. The characters feel real, and the story is not predictable at all. Readers interested in acting and theater will especially love this story, as the author does a great job of describing and explaining summer st... moreock, compelete with theater terminology. I enjoyed it immensely.
review 2: 12 year old Junebug, younger sister of Stella (named after Streetcar character) and older brother Beck (named after playwright Becket), is always in the background at her parent's summer stock theater company, the Blue Moon. It is an open air theater, and she is in charge of the thunder for The Tempest, the first of 3 plays that summer (followed by the Seagull and Alceste). Junebug longs to be in front of the lights and fantasizes about her Broadway future but she is overshadowed by beautiful Stella. She adopts the opening line of The Seagull - "I am in mourning for my life."To make matters worse, her dad shoves a new boy onto her - a boy she dubs Thespis for his neverending fount of theater triva - so she can "show him the ropes" of being a props assistant/stagehand. She doesn't want to help Thespis and gets annoyed at his obssessive behavior (like lining up cereal boxes for the cast breakfasts), his constant trivia, and his stuttering. She bemoans everything to her "flamboyant" friend, a grown up named Simon (also a longtime family friend and costumer). However, one day Thespis overhears her ranting about him and she doesn't have the nerve to apologize to him for a long time, even though they're both cast as children in the play Alceste, which her dad directs AND is playing the leading role in.June learns that Thespis has Asperger's and she feels terrible. June's parents are separated - presumably because her dad has some interest in a young actress named Lelia - and June's mother lives on the other side of the farm. June's dad has a heart attack on opening night of Alceste, and the healing process of the family begins, as he realizes what's important. June apologizes to Thespis, who had been giving a speaking role to help him overcome his stutter. less

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