Tell Me

Title: Tell Me

Author: Joan Bauer

Summary: 12 year old Anna is an actress. She hasn't gotten any huge parts yet, but she is still an actress and puts her heart fully into everything she does. In fact, the book documents her acting jobs as a cranberry first, and then later a petunia. After a few weeks of her cranberry job, her mom sends her away to live with her grandmother in a nice town in Virginia. The reason of this is that her parents are going through a hard time and need to be separated and without Anna for a small time, and the summer vacation is the perfect time to do that.

Anna meets new friends, rides a horse, and even, the biggest of all, sees a girl in a van in front of the library who appears to be a kidnapping victim. Anna, being the kind girl she is, takes it upon herself to figure out just what is going on with that girl. With the help from Mim, her grandmother, her new friend, and some others from the town, they go on a mission to save the kidnapped girl.

 

Comments: I can't begin to say how much I loved this book! In fact, I'm being to think that any book written by Joan Bauer has got to be a hit and best-seller. Anna is the perfect role model as she goes out on a search to find this girl who she doesn't even know, and she won't back down either. The acting is a nice subplot and there are probably a lot of relatable experiences in this book that actresses/actors can relate to! Anna also has received tips from her old drama/theater coach as well, so readers may be able to learn something from those tips! Anna is such a relatable character and I found myself wishing she could be real so that we could be friends!
Some of the "trafficking" themes in this could be a bit mature for younger readers who are looking for an extremely light book, so I'd say an 8+ for this one! (Assuming that the child learned to read at 5-6)

Complaints: It would take a million years to come up with something worth complaining about in this book. Well, actually, there was a typo on page 100 or something, but that doesn't matter, we still got the point.

Rating: 5 stars!!!!