The Talent Show [Hardcover]

Dan Gutman (Author)

Book Description

When their town gets destroyed by a tornado, everyone is pretty depressed. So in order to cheer everyone up and raise some money, the community decides to put on a talent show. Unfortunately, no one in town is particularly talented. But that doesn’t stop everyone from giving it their all! Especially the one star in town. She just might have what it takes—if she can get to the show on time. When another tornado hits, the kids make every effort to put the show on, but there may be more surprises in store!

Dan Gutman delivers another hilarious tale about school adventures!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-7–Located in the middle of Tornado Alley, Cape Bluff, KS, is destroyed by a twister. The principal of the elementary school suggests a talent show to raise money for rebuilding the town and the citizens' spirits. The idea is embraced, and soon most of the students have signed up, regardless of whether or not they have talent. Singer Elke Villa is favored to win, but on the night of the show, she gets caught in yet another tornado. Even without the star, the show goes on, which causes another star to emerge from the shadows and become the least-expected winner. The Talent Show opens with the destructive tornado. Gutman effectively paces the rest of the book by giving readers short glimpses into the drama of preparing for the talent show, and he develops characters in a way that keeps readers guessing until the end. The children are believable and representative of most kids their age. This feel-good book includes a balance of humor and suspense. It proves that people can rally around a good cause, and that the underdog can still have a chance at success.Rebecca Webster, Warren County Middle School, Front Royal, VA
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

After the small Kansas town of Cape Bluff is hit by a tornado, a new school principal suggests a kids' talent show to boost the town's spirits. Gutman's novel follows the fate of some of the participants: a talented singer who is being pushed by her stage mother, a would-be comedian, a poet-rapper, and members of a rebel rock band. After the auditions, most of the kids are allowed to participate in the show, although the comedian, who forgot his act, and a boy who creates a PowerPoint presentation are not. On the night of the big event, though, the town is hit by another tornado. Despite the lack of power, the show goes on, and the end of the evening brings a surprise guest appearance. Gutman offers a funny view of a small town pulling together, and the opening pages feature a compelling, scary description of a tornado roaring across the plains. Michelle Houts' The Beef Princess of Practical County (2009) also gives a view of rural life in another story centered around a competition. Grades 4-7. --Todd Morning

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers; 1 edition (May 18, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416990038
• ISBN-13: 978-1416990031
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #189,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

This is hard. I'm a pretty regular Jersey guy who spent fifteen years trying to write newspaper articles, magazine articles, screenplays, books for adults, and just about everything else before I discovered the one thing I'm good at--writing fiction for kids. I aim for kids who DON'T like to read, and hopefully the kids who DO like to read will enjoy my stuff too. For all the gory details about me, check out my web site.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Talent Show, July 12, 2010

By 

L. Romich "Book Nympho" (Akron, oH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Talent Show (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

THE TALENT SHOW by Dan Gutman is about two tornados that hit the city of Cape Bluff, Kansas. The kids at Cape Bluff Elementary School voted on whether or not to have a talent show or a rubble to rebuild the school. The deciding vote was a talent show. None of the kids knew there were so many people that wanted to be in the talent show.

Everyone is showing off their talents and doing their part such as: The Blufftones, a band that plays old-time rock and roll; Julia, a fourth grader who was on the pointe at The Fontaneau Ballet Studio, with a song by Justin Chanda, a multimillion-selling pop star; Don Potash, a sixth grader who did a stand-up comedy act; Richard Ackoon, a third grader who is an aspiring rap star and does his own rap, and "Honest Dave" Gale who owns a car dealership named Honest Dave's Hummer Heaven, who donated the car for the winner and their parent's.

THE TALENT SHOW by Dan Gutman was an okay read. The story is about a small town that is hit by two tornados, one before the talent show and the other in the middle of the talent show. It is also about how the kids raised money from the talent show to rebuild their school. It was an okay read because it was a little slow to get into. It was not quite what I expected after reading most of Mr. Gutman's other books. I personally am a fan of his SCHOOL DAZE series (the titles rhyme), which I would recommend for other kids to read.

This book was provided by the Amazon Vine program for review purposes.

Reviewed by Kalia
APOOO BookClub

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Talent Show doesn't play to the author's talents., July 22, 2010

By 

Scott Sherman "Scott Sherman, Lambda Literary... (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Talent Show (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

My nine-year-old son is a reluctant reader, but Dan Gutman's "My Weird School" series are books he can't wait to get his hands on. Told in the first person by a snarky second-grader who proudly announces "I hate school," that series gives my son a protagonist to whom he can relate, some funny set-ups, and a villain or two to root against.

Now that he's ready for more challenging materials, I was glad to see Gutman had written a book for older readers - The Talent Show. I hoped it would continue to build on Gutman's strengths for writing likable, relatable characters with an incremental increase in its level of difficultly.

Unfortunately, The Talent Show wasn't that book. For one thing, the word choices were more sophisticated than I anticipated. The first page of the book contains about 50-60 words, among them: "Stratocaster," ""on pointe," "The Fontaneua Ballet Studio," "releves," "tour jetes," "allegro," and "Giselle." My son stumbled over every one of those words, and for good reason. It turned him off to wanting to read more.

In those opening pages, Gutman establishes what several of his lead characters were doing "When the Tornado Hit..." One sixth grade character is in the shower singing "I Will Survive," another boy in her class is watching a Jerry Seinfeld DVD, and the fifth-grader practicing his Stratocaster is playing "Stairway to Heaven."

These seemed like more missed opportunities to draw in the target audience. My son didn't get any of those references. Why are the characters into music and comedians from over a decade ago? It's strangely off-putting. My kid likes The Jonas Brothers and Spongebob, not Gloria Gaynor and Seinfeld.

We read another thirty or so pages but the book never grabbed him. Me, either. At that point, there still wasn't a major character defined. The jumps of the third-person omniscient narrator were confusing. The focus on the tornado and its aftermath were kind of scary. Although no one dies, there is the threat of death, and real destruction and injury. "Why is the story so sad," my son asked. "And where's the 'talent show?'"

We didn't stick around to find out. Maybe it gets better, but without a strong point of view or a single character he could get behind, my son wasn't interested. Reading it became a chore. Gutman's a talented guy, but The Talent Show didn't play to his strengths.

4.0 out of 5 stars Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, November 22, 2010

By 

Yana V. Rodgers "econkids.rutgers.edu" (New Brunswick, NJ) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Talent Show (Hardcover)

Cape Bluff, Kansas, a working class town located in the heart of Tornado Alley, had a long history of surviving physical and economic devastation. Although the population had dwindled to the most resilient folks, the townspeople were fed up when the latest tornado struck, the worst ever in Cape Bluff's history and the cause of some $34 million worth of damage. Numerous people who could not afford insurance faced total destruction to their homes and cars, businesses suffered extensive damage, and the elementary school library lost all its books.

Resiliency, though, took hold once again when the principal suggested they hold a talent show to lift spirits and raise money for the library. The idea caught on quickly, especially when a number of local businesspeople offered free goods and services to support the show's production, including a brand new Hummer for the grand prize. Cape Bluff's student body included a number of budding singers, dancers, musicians, and comedians, virtually all of whom dreamed about shining on stage and bringing home that Hummer. Who would win, and could the show raise the money they needed?

The Talent Show offers up an entertaining blend of suspense and adolescent drama as a bunch of talented youngsters go head to head to become the next Cape Bluff Idol. Cleverly intertwined with the story are a number of economics ideas related to class, scarcity, small businesses, and fundraising. The book will likely encourage readers to think about how they could use their own talents to raise money for a good cause.