Miranda and the Movies [Paperback]

Jane Kendall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 26, 1999 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

Nothing exciting ever happens in Leewood Heights, New Jersey, home of Miranda Gaines. But in 1914 an unusual troupe of characters rents the house next door, and Miranda falls into a scene straight out of silent movie comedies. In fact, her fall from a tree lands her in the middle of the fledgling movie industry and opens up a whole new world to the headstrong preteen. Miranda and the Movies introduces Miranda Gaines, an endearing and funny heroine—and offers a colorful look at the early days of American filmmaking.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-- This novel shows the passion and precariousness of early American filmmaking. Star-struck and headstrong, almost-12 Miranda literally falls (out of a tree) into a movie which is being filmed next door to her home in New Jersey with her Aunt Lucy. Forbidden to have anything to do with "flickers" people, Miranda promises to obey with fingers crossed and becomes a part of the American Moving Picture Company, a dedicated group of film pioneers. The excitement of those frenzied days is colorfully captured as Miranda, an irrepressible heroine, fulfills her dream. The plot, which includes the machinations of the financially destitute film company to complete a box-office success while avoiding paying royalties to goons hired by the big companies who have a stranglehold on the independents, is as full of heroes and villains as the old melodramas. Less literary readers may puzzle at allusions to early 20th-century culture and the occasionally difficult vocabulary, but the adventure is as fast paced as that which assured the silver screen its success. Readers will have fun with this novel, and gain some insight into the fledgling movie industry as well. --Susan F. Marcus, Pollard Middle School, Needham, MA
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Jane Kendall is a published author of the following titles: Miranda and the Movies & The Alligator in the Closet: And Other Poems Around the House .

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (April 26, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152020578
• ISBN-13: 978-0152020576
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,592,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, May 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Miranda and the Movies (Hardcover)

This is one of my favorite children's books ever! It's funny, and silly, and slightly romantic, though not in a mushy way. Here's the basic plot: 12 year old Miranda Louis Gaines is bored. And I mean BORED! The other girls only like dolls, and so she plays with the boys (unthinkable to the well brought up ladies of the neighborhood, btu it's fine with her aunt). School's almost over, and her summer fun will begin, or should begin. On day, she overhears that new people are moving in next door. She dreams of meeting them until she hears the news: they aren't just any people; they're ACTORS! Strictly forbidden! She promises not to go talk to them, but what's the harm in eavesdropping from a tree? To make it short, Miranda gets involved with the American Moving Picture Company, and everything going's fine until the day of her birthday, when she goes with her aunt Lucy into New York...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Know your silent movie history? Even if you don't, pick this up, December 3, 2009

By 

Karla Bushway "7Rabbits" (South Strafford, VT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Miranda and the Movies (Paperback)

For years I've been looking for a novel that takes place in the early age of film, and have been consistently disappointed. Either the film world is shoved into the background in preference of soap opera plots and famous name-dropping or the author utterly fails at capturing the era. Usually, the 1920s and 1930s get all the attention, with the very important 1910s ignored. Well, Jane Kendall finally gets it right and this book was a total treat for someone who knows the personalities of the era. The book is written with an eye to readers either being intelligent enough to recognize the names and business mentioned, or at least motivated to find out more, and I can assure you that reading about Biograph, Selig, Thanhouser, Vitagraph, the real American aka "Flying A", Kalem, Keystone, Pathe, and all the other early pioneers of film is not wasted time.

The cast of characters in the American Motion Picture Company are thinly disguised members of the real-life film world of the time, and there is some duplication as their actual counterparts are also referred to within the story. The cameraman Jerry Donnelly is obviously Billy Bitzer, and C.J. Tourneur is an immediately identifiable Cecil B. DeMille, with his at-a-distance passion for leading lady Dulcie a tip of the hat to D.W. Griffith's celluloid affair with Lillian Gish. Bobby Gilmer is inspired by Griffith stock player Bobby Harron in appearance and demeanor, if not exactly in backstory. (Harron had a less tragic childhood, but he did have a tragic end. I doubt, had Kendall ever finished the series, the same would have happened to Gilmer.)

This pilfering characterization may appear lazy, and it might have been so in the hands of a less skillful writer, but Kendall is anything but amateur. Her main protagonist, Miranda Gaines, has a realistic voice - she's bored, she's frustrated, and when the flicker folks move next door and stir up the entire town, the summer promises to be The. Best. Ever. Her infiltration of the movie troupe is done with humor and pathos that has a wholesome appeal that reflects what we think of the era at the time. Even so, she has her characters smoke and drink - unwelcome details in a boring and sanitized YA book world, but realistic of the time. As C.J. animatedly talks and dumps ciggy ash on his breakfast, you can't help but get a clear picture of the man and his drive to succeed in the picture business.

Miranda grows up during this summer of fun and sly deceit (she keeps her real-life and film worlds separate as much as she can), and discovers some secrets about her Aunt Lucy, whose strictness is more imposed by the town's society doyennes than her own inclinations. Probably Kendall's most serious moments - and integral to the plot - hinge on the issue of "The Trust," a nasty and violent piece of film history spear-headed by Thomas Edison that for awhile threatened the industry's independence. The American's frantic out-maneuverings of Edison's bully boys provides the story's suspense, and reinforces Miranda's dedication to changing her future by leaving her sleepy New Jersey town.

In the end, while I still hope to find a novel geared more for adults that deal with this era of film history, Kendall's book is a total gem of both history and storytelling.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book, October 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Miranda and the Movies (Paperback)

I'm hooked. I felt like I was there throughout the entire book. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a fun and exciting adventure. I'm off to buy Miranda Goes to Hollywood!