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Acting Out [Hardcover]

Avi (Author), Susan Cooper (Author), Sharon Creech (Author), Patricia MacLachlan (Author), Katherine Paterson (Author), Richard Peck (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Six masterful children's authors have become master playwrights in this collection of one-act plays that might just make you want to ACT OUT!

In The Raven, Sharon Creech spoofs a publishing office while Susan Cooper shows the environment fighting back against overdevelopment in The Dollop. Patricia MacLachlan puts a twist on detention in The Bad Room and Katherine Paterson gives us a new twist on a classic fairy tale in The Billionaire and the Bird. Richard Peck's Effigy in the Outhouse is the story of schoolboys doing their best to trick a spooky substitute while Avi's Not Seeing Is Believing has words playing tricks on everyone.

With a star-studded lineup of writers there's a stage full of drama, comedy, and great storytelling waiting behind these curtains!

Newbery Medal-winning and beloved authors Avi, Susan Cooper, Sharon Creech, Patricia MacLachlan, Katherine Paterson, and Richard Peck have come together and written six original one-act plays to be read, shared, and acted out by the audience they know best.

The playwrights could write about anything and anyone they wanted, but one thing would need to tie the stories all together. Each author had to choose one word and share it with the group. These six words then had to be written into each of the plays.

The words they chose were "dollop," "hoodwink," "Justin," "knuckleball," "panhandle," and "raven." To find out the funny, odd, and creative ways they were used...Well, you'll have to read for yourself.



Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–8—This collection includes selections by Avi, Sharon Creech, Susan Cooper, Patricia MacLachlan, Katherine Paterson, and Richard Peck. Each play was inspired by a theater-improv game in which the authors started with the selection of a single word. The pieces all include the following words: "dollop," "hoodwink," "Justin," "knuckleball," "panhandle," and "raven." Part of the fun is in seeing how these playwrights incorporate them into their stories. Most are humorous, and they all have many young characters. Production requirements range from easy to difficult. An engaging choice for literature and acting classes as well as general reading.—Terrilyn Fleming, Colby Public Schools, KS
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Avi is the author of more than fifty books for children and young adults, including the 2003 Newbery medal winner Crispin: The Cross of Lead. He has won two Newbery Honors and many other awards for his fiction. He lives with his family in Denver, Colorado. Visit him on the Web at www.avi-writer.com.

Susan Cooper, one of today's most distinguished children's book writers, won a Newbery Medal and a Newbery Honor for books in her fantasy sequence, The Dark is Rising. She is also the author of King of Shadows, a Boston Globe -- Horn Book Honor Book, and Green Boy, which was called "an intriguing and truly lovely book" by the New York Times Book Review. She lives in Fairfield, Connecticut, and her Web site is at www.thelostland.com.

Patricia MacLachlan is the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; and Three Names, illustrated by Alexander Pertzoff. She lives in western Massachusetts.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (June 17, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1416938486
  • ISBN-13: 978-1416938484
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #560,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, July 16, 2008
This review is from: Acting Out (Hardcover)
What happens when you ask six Newbery Award winners to write one-act plays? Well, you get a book like ACTING OUT, and you get the potential for a lot of fun.

Award-winning authors Avi, Susan Cooper, Sharon Creech, Patricia MacLachlan, Katherine Paterson, and Richard Peck were asked to write one-act plays. They were given the freedom to write about anything, but there was one catch. Each author picked a word which was to be used in all six plays. The words chosen were dollop, hoodwink, Justin, knuckleball, panhandle, and raven. Their creative efforts are a pleasure to read.

The subjects of the plays include school topics like the detention room and a scary substitute, a mysterious voice, a moving, talking giant rock, a childhood Edgar A. Poe, and a selfish billionaire. Each script includes stage directions, character descriptions, and production hints.

ACTING OUT is successful as a casual reading experience as well as for its potential for actual staged performances. Readers will appreciate seeing a different side of some of their favorite Newbery authors.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
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3.0 out of 5 stars Lights, camera, act!, May 1, 2011
This review is from: Acting Out (Paperback)
This collection of one-act plays, written by six winners of the Newbery Medal, will appeal to middle school students enrolled in a beginning drama class. My favorite is Sharon Creech's "The Bad Room," which revolves around students in detention; it reminds me a bit of the 1985 movie, "The Breakfast Club." One interesting spin is that each author was asked to choose a word to use in his/her play; all six words chosen were then used in each play. Students will recognize the names of the authors, making it more likely to draw them into the plays.
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3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but not the greatest, January 22, 2011
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This review is from: Acting Out (Hardcover)
The scripts in this book are fun, but definitely not great literature. I was hoping to find some scripts that would be easy and fun for middle schoolers. These plays were obviously geared toward a beginner audience, but in the end they were too simple and my students were not excited by them.
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