Dara Palmer's Major Drama

Starred review from May 2, 2016
Hollywood-obsessed Dara Palmer wants to be an actor, but she doesn’t look like any of the “honey vanilla waffles” that she idolizes. Ethnically Cambodian, this chatty British fifth-grader begins to wonder whether she isn’t getting acting parts because of her looks—because it surely couldn’t be for lack of talent, could it? As Dara, which means star in Khmer, tries to move past losing the starring role in the big school production, she also begins to sort out the fact that her “outsidey bit” doesn’t match her mental image of a movie star. As quirky Dara, lover of teaspoons and hater of noodles, struggles with her identity as an adoptee and her rocky relationship with her younger sister (also adopted, but white), she finds the help of a teacher she didn’t think she needed. And as Dara’s acting skills grow, so do her understanding of herself and her empathy for those around her. Like Shevah’s Dream On, Amber, this entertaining insight into the mind of an adopted child, snappily narrated and exuberantly illustrated, is sure to win readers over, one teaspoonful at a time. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Allison Hellegers, Rights People.

Starred review from April 15, 2016
A fifth-grader who dreams of becoming a famous actor cannot find role models that reflect her Cambodian background.Following Dream On, Amber (2015), Shevah returns with another book, this time deftly navigating the complexity of being a transracial adoptee. Dara knows she's perfect for the lead role in her school's production of The Sound of Music. When she fails to land a role, she's thinks it's because she was adopted from Cambodia. Her dark brown skin and brown hair don't look the part of Austrian nun. Dreams crushed, Dara struggles for a sense of belonging. Her younger sister, Georgia, who was adopted from Russia, looks more like their British parents than Dara does. A classmate taunts her Asian heritage, calling her "noodlehead," yet she has no memories of her 18 months in the orphanage. She feels compelled to choose sides when her friend Vanna, another Cambodian adoptee, invites Dara to visit their orphanage together. With the support of her ginger-haired older brother Felix, she reluctantly joins an after-school drama class. With the help of her friends and family, Dara writes a play about her own life--in which a Cambodian-British girl can be the star. Crawford-White's charming doodle illustrations along the margins reflects Dara's inner monologues throughout the book.This funny, charismatic heroine will capture her readers' hearts. (Fiction. 8-13)

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Starred review from May 1, 2016

Gr 3-6-British fifth grader Dara Palmer is a natural-born actress, destined for Hollywood stardom. At least, that's what she and her best friend, Lacey, think, until neither of them lands the lead role in their school's musical production of The Sound of Music. Dara, who is adopted from Cambodia, believes that she may have been passed over for the role because she doesn't look like the original Maria. After seeing that the cast includes other nonwhite students in important roles and talking to the director, Dara realizes that it is her acting skills (or lack thereof) that landed her a spot on the stage crew. Amid all of this drama, a friend of Dara's, another Cambodian adoptee, invites her on a trip to her birth country. Grappling with her sense of self, both as an adopted child and a failing actress, Dara must decide which of these grievances she wishes to face-taking the expensive trip to Cambodia or signing up for acting lessons at home. The challenges Dara faces paint a well-rounded and realistic picture of the life of a foreign-born adoptee. The typography enlarges important phrases and bolds Dara's signature onomatopoeias like huuuggghhtt and kzzzcchhh. There are also plentiful doodles found on every page. Once readers adapt to the on-page asides and visuals, Dara's larger-than-life personality and true-to-life middle grade issues command center stage until the curtain falls.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
Grades 3-6 Fifth-grader Dara Palmer knows she's destined for the fortune and fame of Hollywoodshe and her friend Lacey can make the most dramatic faces, after all. That should make auditioning for the school's production of The Sound of Music a breeze, but when Dara doesn't get cast at alllet alone land the starring roleshe is devastated. Could it be because she's Cambodian and doesn't look the part? Or, worse, because she can't act? As she did in Dream On, Amber (2015), Shevah takes an insightful look at tween life, exploring themes of identity, race, and family with a liberal dose of humor. Dara is a winning, fittingly overdramatic character who starts to grow once she takes a more serious look her life and those in it. Having been adopted by a loving, white family, Dara doesn't always feel she fits in, but by learning about her roots, working hard at acting, and trying to be a better sister, her world expands. A heartwarming, diary-style novel (with decorative doodles by Crawford-White) that deserves a place on library shelves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2017
Adopted Cambodian-British fifth grader Dara is gobsmacked when she isn't given the lead in the school musical. Dara's realization that acting involves putting oneself in another's shoes helps her become a better actor, friend, and sister. With themes of transracial adoption, racism, identity, friendship, and sibling rivalry, there's a lot going on, but Shevah's novel raises interesting questions without attempting to neatly answer them all.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2016
Though not a sequel to Shevah's first novel, Dream On, Amber, this book is set at the same British elementary school and features another memorable narrator. Fifth grader Dara is genuinely gobsmacked when she isn't given the part of Maria in the school performance of The Sound of Music. Is it because evil Miss Snarling, er, Snelling doesn't think an Asian girl would make a good Austrian nun? Nope -- Dara actually doesn't get any part (except a spot in the choir) because it turns out she isn't the extremely talented actor she thinks she is. Dara's eventual realizations that acting is more than making dramatic faces and that it involves putting oneself in another's shoes help her become a better actor along with a better friend and sister. Her older brother, kind and perceptive, is their parents' biological son; her younger sister was adopted from Russia; Dara, adopted from Cambodia, hates sticking out like a sore thumb in her otherwise white family. With themes of transracial adoption, racism, identity, friendship, and sibling rivalry (not to mention a hyperactively decorated page design), there's a lot going on here, but Shevah's novel raises interesting questions without attempting to neatly answer them all. Self-absorbed Dara isn't always likable, but her emotional growth is believable and appealing, and her super-chatty narration is never not funny. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)