Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My to Do List [Library Binding]

Janette Rallison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2009

A PC school principal turns West Side Story into a comedy of errors.

Sixteen year-old Jessica dreams of Hollywood fame, and when Jordan moves into her small town, she dreams of him too. He’s a movie star’s son, and hey, he’s gorgeous to boot. Jordan has always wanted to get out from the shadow cast by his superstar father, but now that he and his mother have moved so far away from LA, how can he get his divorced parents back together? Jessica convinces Jordan the way to get his father to come for a long visit is to be a part of the school play. And if she’s “discovered” in the process, all the better. Things go wrong when she lets Jordan’s secret identity slip, and grow even more disastrous when the principal tries to change West Side Story into a gangfree, violence-free, politically correct production.

In the same romantic and sharply witty spirit of Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Free Throws, Janette Rallison delivers another comic gem that teen readers are sure to love.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10–Jessica, a junior in a small New Mexico town, dreams of Hollywood stardom. She is devastated when a lack of funds threatens cancellation of the school play. Into her life steps Jordan, a new student whose father is a famous actor. Jordan wants to keep this hidden, but Jessica hatches a scheme to save the play by revealing his identity to the drama teacher and promising that he will audition for a role. When Jordan's secret gets out, Jessica's plan is turned upside down and her relationship with him inside out. A confrontation with him causes her to miss getting the lead in West Side Story. Ultimately, she discovers that fame and fortune can hurt relationships, and their romance blossoms. The plot moves fast and there are some enjoyable parts, but the writing is average. The characters are sometimes fun, but Jessica is self-involved and manipulative. While this novel may appeal to fans of Meg Cabot, most teen girls will seek other, more sympathetic heroines.–Amy Patrick, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. True to the book's title, Jessica's cool, hilarious, first-person narrative mocks her dreams of stardom. When gorgeous Jordan arrives in her small town in New Mexico, she falls in love with him. What really grabs her attention, though is the fact that his divorced dad is a movie idol. If Jordan can persuade his dad to come to their high-school production of West Side Story, he would see her great talent. The trouble is, everyone else at school has the same dream, and the performance, on and off the stage, degenerates into wild fighting and farce. The heavy attack on self-righteous political correctness seems more attuned to adults than teens, but plenty of readers will enjoy the fun of putting on a play, the humorous take on what can go wrong, and the rivalry, the embarrassment, and the romance between friends and lovers. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 186 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439561222
• ISBN-13: 978-1439561225
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,922,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Janette Rallison is old. Don't ask how old, because it isn't polite. Let's just say she's older than she'd like to be and leave it at that.

Janette lives in Chandler, Arizona with her husband, five children and enough cats to classify her as "an eccentric cat lady." She did not do this on purpose. (The cats, that is; she had the children on purpose.) Every single one of the felines showed up on its own and refuses to leave. Not even the family's fearless little Westie dog can drive them off.
Since Janette has five children and deadlines to write books, she doesn't have much time left over for hobbies. But since this is the internet and you can't actually check up to see if anything on this site is true, let's just say she enjoys dancing, scuba diving, horse back riding and long talks with Orlando Bloom. (Well, I never said he answers back.)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wasn't On My To Do List, but..., June 1, 2006

By 

Paige Anne Turner (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To-Do List (Hardcover)

I almost didn't read this book because of the cover. Sounds horrible, I know, never judge a book by it's cover. But the girl on the cover looked about eleven years old and it didn't seem very interesting. But I read the back, and I thought, maybe I'll read this sometime. So I put it aside, and then one day I picked it up, and started reading, and I didn't stop until I was done.

This is a cute book about a girl named Jessica (who is still in highschool, but NOT eleven years old!) who wants to act. Then a guy named Jordan moves to her town, and... actually, you should read the book.

What I thought when I first picked up the book was that it would be poorly written. On the contrary, I found the writing to be funny, the heroine to be funny and smart. I appreciated everything that happened, and the honest way the author wrote the book.

It was a good read. The only thing that was wrong with it was it's length - I wanted more. :)

So I guess the morale was never to judge a book by it's cover - you may be pleasantly surprised.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book!, July 16, 2006

By 

Ella "steelersgrl" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To-Do List (Hardcover)

There is simply no other way to put it-- this book is hilarious. I was lying on my bed reading it and laughing out loud! If you love humor with a touch of everything else this book is perfect. It ends off perfectly. At first I thought the book looked a little babyish, but it was just sooo awesome. Enjoy!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jessica the Drama Queen, November 18, 2005

By 

Reader "Carrie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fame, Glory, and Other Things on My To-Do List (Hardcover)

Janette Rallison is true to her funny form in this story of Jessica who dreams of Hollywood. When the hunk of her dreams moves to town, she almost screws up their budding romance by divulging his secret: his dad is a famous movie actor.

If you like your humor screwball as I do, you'll like this book.