Carter's Big Break

Gr 7—10—Will Carter is back in Brent Crawford's riotous sequel (2010) to the hilarious Carter Finally Gets It (2009, both Hyperion). Will Carter has finished his freshman year of high school and is looking forward to a summer of hanging out with his "boys" and his girlfriend Abby. But everything changes when he lands the lead role in a film being shot in his hometown. His teen co-star, the popular Hilary Idaho, has more baggage then he can imagine, and his ex-girlfriend is Hilary's understudy to boot. As the shooting progresses, Carter realizes there is a lot more to the movie business than he ever realized. Having been a starving actor himself, Crawford paints a very real picture of life on a film set. His writing is sharp and humorous, but it's narrator Nick Podehl who once again brings Carter to life. He takes Carter's slacker cluelessness and makes it his own using just the right nuances to capture the quirky teen. For all his faults, Carter is just trying to figure out life like everyone else and the narration makes that apparent. Podehl also captures the personalities of all the other characters and is especially impressive in voicing the females such as Abby and Carter's bossy but wise sister. Though it helps to be familiar with the previous book, this story can stand on its own. Sure to be a hit with teens.—Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI