Acting [Hardcover]

Sherri Winston (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2004

It’s hard to discover the "real you" when you have a twin with an identical face who hates you and a mother who wishes you were the other twin. At least, that’s how life feels to Eve. Pushed away from the one-time closeness she shared with her sister, Eve delves into the thing that has sustained her throughout her whole life: acting. Eve loves playing the role of the family’s good girl, but after her sister ends up pregnant and Eve develops a romantic interest for the local "bad boy," Eve begins to realize that there’s a very thin line between "bad" and "good." Told with wit and a good dose of melodrama, Acting invites readers on a backstage tour of the teenage years.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. Smart, gorgeous Eve, 16, dreams of escaping from her depressed Michigan town, but after her identical twin, Al, becomes pregnant, Eve is trapped in the furious family uproar. Now she must be "the good one" to make up for her sister. Al won't say who the baby's father is, but she warns Eve that what may be worse than rape is "saying yes because you think you want to." Eve, who wants to have sex with gorgeous Lucious, wonders whether she is decent and honest or a stark-raving sex fiend. There's too much plot contrivance, including heavy parallels with Eve's acting role in The Crucible, but teens will welcome this first novel, not only for the truth it tells about romance and sex but also for the honest picture of a loving African American family with secrets across generations. Rare in a story written from a young woman's viewpoint is the complex portrait of a young man; Lucious, sexy, but more controlled than Eve, has troubles and dreams of his own. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Sherri Winston grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. A graduate of Michigan State University, she now works as a lifestyle columnist for the Florida Sun-Sentinel, for whom she writes about her life, local entertainment, and books (her favorite category). She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children's Books (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761451730
• ISBN-13: 978-0761451730
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,496,309 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi, my name is Sherri Winston. I'm trying very hard to be famous. President of the Whole Fifth Grade is my latest book. It came out in October of 2010 and it is awesome. Not just because I wrote it. But it's true. I used to work for a newspaper, I know about this stuff.
I grew up in Michigan in a small town. President of the Whole Fifth Grade takes place in a fictitious suburb of Detroit called Orchard Park. I now live in Florida with my two daughters, my cats and an assortment of critters that wander onto the property. My current paperback, The Kayla Chronicles, also takes place in Florida. See, how cool is that. No matter how awesome or boring the place where you live is, you can still make a book about it.
In school I was not very popular. I was very shy and read lots of books. All I wanted to do when I grew up was to make up my own stories and write lots and lots of books. I worked for a long time as a newspaper journalist in Michigan, Connecticut, Virginia and Florida.
When my first published book, Acting, A Novel, for young adults, was published, I was just grateful to have a book. I felt proud to have accomplished my lifelong dream.
OK, now that I've had the soft and fuzzy feelings, I'm looking for something else: A HUGE BLOCKBUSTER BOOK! I want to be rich and famous and my daughters keep reminding me that I'm getting old and don't have much time. So from now on I'll be popping up in all sorts of places. People must learn how wonderful I am and buy my book. I don't need a mansion, but I want one real bad. Won't you please donate. An author is a terrible thing to waste, uh, er, ignore!
For grownups who love reading and want to follow my quest for author superstardom and millions of dollars, I have a blog, sherriwinston.wordpress.com. In it, you can share in my quest to become an overnight sensation in a hundred years or less. I also have a website, sherriwinston.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic and necessary, March 16, 2007

By 

Alex Flinn (Miami, Fl United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acting (Hardcover)

This is a great first novel about a young woman, facing the decision whether to have sex with a boy she thinks she's in love with. It is also about the changing relationship Eve has with her formerly "perfect" twin sister, who is now pregnant. The family relationships in the book are complex and realistic, and the book is rich and interesting.

Without giving away any plot spoilers, I will assertively say that this book is most decidedly not pro-teen sex of any kind. That it acknowledges that teen sex and teen pregnancy exists is a given. But mostly, it is about the importance of this decision, and that it shouldn't be entered lightly because there may be regrets.

On a less serious note, kids who are into drama will also enjoy this book.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not for teens!, April 12, 2005

By 

Crease in the Page (Hills of Northern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Acting (Hardcover)

Warning: this book has very detailed descriptions of sexual activity, and it suggests oral sex as a safe alternative to intercourse.