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Girl Talk #8
Stealing the Show
Vintage children's book
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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July 12, 2024Stealing the Show
Sab is excited to find out what play their putting on this year so she can audition. Its Grease (groans My cousin would approve). Stacey says she doesn’t look a thing like Olivia Newton-John and would be better suited to play Annie. She decides to try out for Sandy anyway. The thing is Katie asks Sabrina if she can sing and she thinks she can learn to sing. Actresses do it all the time. Sabrina plans to rent Grease after school and she invites her GT friends. Sab wants them all to try out but they’re not interested. Randy and Allison finally say maybe they can do something backstage (lights). Even though they don’t want to get involved (Sab's flavor of the month) Cameron says he’s going to audition for Danny which makes Sab fantasize about the two of them being the perfect fit (on and off stage).
When they go to the video store, they think the movie is a comedy or a drama and Stacey ends up finding it first because it’s a musical. Luckily, Stacey just has the cover. You have to bring the cover up to the counter and then they’ll give you the tape. UH! That is NOT the way it works at Blockbuster when it was opened. When they go to play the tape, it looks like it’s broken but it just needs to be rewound. While they're watching it, Sabr keeps trying to write down all of Sandy’s lines. (I’m sure there are transcripts but oh wait this isn’t the age of the internet). Sab’s mom surprises her with a soundtrack for the movie. (She's been the only one who supports Sab’s dream of being an actress).
After her friends leave, Sab goes into her brother’s room to use their record player. She thinks she doesn’t sound too bad, but they well let's just say l have a whole other opinion about her singing. So, she goes to practice some more in her room. Later, she goes to the attic and is surprised to find along with the blond wig she was looking for is a poodle skirt, a button-up sweater, a pink scarf, and saddle shoes that belonged to her mother. She decides to go to school the next day in character. Katie calls later and says her sister Emily says that when she tried out for the play in high school, she also had to learn the dances. So, Sabrina gets her mother and father to teach her the jive and the Lindsey. Now, she’s all set.
At the audition, Sabrina is given the part of “Frenchie” to read but is told that won’t necessarily be the part she gets. Sabrina reads the line just as she say the character do in the movie. Stacey is given the role of Sandy but her deliverance is flat. Sabrina is surprised that her brother auditions and sounds good reading his lines. Cameron does great and has combed his hair back like Danny. Then they all have to sing. Stacey does great singing (but then she’s been taking lessons in dancing and singing since she was 4). Sabrina’s singing isn’t great. Sam tells her she was “a little off-key”. Her GT friends encourage her after its over. Sab wants to go back and tell Mr. Rossi she wants Sandy’s part but they tell her he can probably already tell acting skills. They all go to Fitz’s. When Sab sees Stacey and Nick and thinks about how good they look together, she gets an idea. She leaves Fitzies and goes to a store where she gets some temporary blond dye. Then she tries the solution. But it turns off orange. She tries to scrub it out but.. the color stays.
She calls Katie and tells her about how she thought if she dyed her hair blond she’d get the lead. Katie calls Allison and tells her what Sabrina did. They plan to go over to Sabrina’s house. Katie calls Randy and then tells her. Randy says she thinks she knows how to fix it. She use to dye all her friends hair in NY. Randy fixes it in the nick of time. When she’s done Sabrina’s parents come home. Since she promised Randy not to mess with her hair again, she decides to experiment with her look. She tries to give herself a sexy look by wearing a stuffed bra, tall boots, and makeup. She’s meeting her friends at the mall and can’t wait for them to see the new Sabrina, but on the way there it rains and she gets drenched. Blue tissues are showing through her shirt. Katies suggests she go fix herself up before they go to the movie. On the way to the bathroom, she hears Stacey so she ducks into what turns out to be a closet. Then she gets stuck in the closet. When she gets out she’s fallen into Cameron’s arms. In the bathroom, she removes the tissues and decides that she’ll just get the role on her own merits.
Her horrorscope tells her on Monday to take advantage of what she’s got the role of Frencie. Stacey gets Sandy and Cameron gets Danny. Even though she’s disappointed, Cameron tells her she’ll be great in the part. But Sabrina doesn’t even want to be in the play anymore. Sam’s brother and all his friends get parts. Then there’s a “sock hop” dance announced. Sab can’t even get excited about this. By lunch, her friends have convinced her that Frenchie is the better part for her.
Rehearsals go great and Sab loves every minute. Sab comes home with the rest of her friends and finds Cam’s shoes (and then Cam himself) in her kitchen. They’ve all come by to help each other memorize tier lines. Cam says he’s happy to see Sabrina. He says now they can read the girl’s lines. Nick is worried that he won’t be able to do it without the scripts. So, they all go into the family room to practice. They all get the lines and dances down and then take a break. Then they run through the whole thing (no mistakes). At 10:00 the rehearsal party breaks up.
Stacey tho, had NOT got it down by Monday. She forgets her first line and Katie has to feed it to her. She’s the only one who doesn’t know the lines. Cameron has to give her a line. She tries to tell everyone that since her parts the biggest she shouldn’t be expected to know all of her lines, but Cameron knows all his. Stacey gets chewed out after by Dr. Rossi. A week later, one of the cast gets sick and Sabrina suggest Katie take her place. This doesn’t go over so well with Katie, but she does read the part for practice. Katie reluctantly agrees to do the part.
Katie and Sab find the perfect dresses for the dance scene in the attic. The teacher has ordered them “Pink Lady” jackets. Stacey thinks hers should be satin. She *still* hasn’t learned her lines by this point. Rady takes them to the “Opportunity Shop” that sells vintage clothes. Katie finds a hot, pink, scarf. Randy finds a pair of crop pants to wear to the sockhop. Allison finds a purple poodle skirt. Then Randy finds an avocado shirt with pearl buttons to wear with her pants and a pair of black flats. Alison finds a white shirt with an I on it. Then for Katie then find a white sweater and blue, ankle-length, skirt. When she gets home, her parents tell her they’re going to chaperone the sock hop. BUMMER! But Katie says this isn’t a big deal.
Sabrina comes down with a bad case of stage fright and Stacey of course teases her about it. Randy tells her to break a leg and Sab trips over her saddle shoes. Katie catches her. There’s an error at the end where Mr. Gray is Frechie’s guardian angel and he’s hanging in the air and the wire gets kinda out of control but the audience thinks it’s part of the show. Stacey gets flowers but she’s so mad that Sabrina gets more applause she throws them away,
At the Sock Hop, Cameron asks Sabrina to dance the first dance. Her parents are cool and keep their distance. Sabrina and Cameron dance all night. When a slow song comes on Cameron dips. Sabrina is confused until she sees that he’s joined his friends and they’re in boxers that spell out Grease. Cameron then comes back to Sabrina and asks her to dance. Then he kisses her on the cheek. Katie sees. Stacey sees and makes a face, but it doesn’t matter to Sabrina. She’s stolen the show!
My Thoughts
It’s so ironic that the play they were putting on was “Grease”. When I saw it I just groaned Just last year there was a sing a long of Grease where I’m from and my little cousin nearly LOST HER MIND. She (like Sabrina) even planned a party where she wanted us to practice learning the songs. I however am A LOT like Randy. Musicals just are NOT my thing and I’d take a good ol Nightmare on Elm Street flick any day over the week over “Grease”. But unlike the girls in these series who are ALL THE TIME peer pressured into getting involved with activities they’d really rather not like Katie, Allison, and Randy, I did *NOT* get pressured into going to see that three-hour musical. They DID interestingly have “Pink Lady” jackets for sale and drinks. I just do not see the point of doing things you REALLY do not want to do to either appease other people or support other people. I think that seeing Sab IN the play should have been enough to show her they supported her. But it’s something I always notice about books in series. If one of the girls does something instead of doing it by herself because she has an interest in it, she always wants to drag the others into it. OR sometimes they’ll all make themselves involved (I guess as a compromise).
Rating: 5
My cousin would definitely scored this higher. She probably would have given it a 10 and been disappointed I gave it a 5.
Sab is excited to find out what play their putting on this year so she can audition. Its Grease (groans My cousin would approve). Stacey says she doesn’t look a thing like Olivia Newton-John and would be better suited to play Annie. She decides to try out for Sandy anyway. The thing is Katie asks Sabrina if she can sing and she thinks she can learn to sing. Actresses do it all the time. Sabrina plans to rent Grease after school and she invites her GT friends. Sab wants them all to try out but they’re not interested. Randy and Allison finally say maybe they can do something backstage (lights). Even though they don’t want to get involved (Sab's flavor of the month) Cameron says he’s going to audition for Danny which makes Sab fantasize about the two of them being the perfect fit (on and off stage).
When they go to the video store, they think the movie is a comedy or a drama and Stacey ends up finding it first because it’s a musical. Luckily, Stacey just has the cover. You have to bring the cover up to the counter and then they’ll give you the tape. UH! That is NOT the way it works at Blockbuster when it was opened. When they go to play the tape, it looks like it’s broken but it just needs to be rewound. While they're watching it, Sabr keeps trying to write down all of Sandy’s lines. (I’m sure there are transcripts but oh wait this isn’t the age of the internet). Sab’s mom surprises her with a soundtrack for the movie. (She's been the only one who supports Sab’s dream of being an actress).
After her friends leave, Sab goes into her brother’s room to use their record player. She thinks she doesn’t sound too bad, but they well let's just say l have a whole other opinion about her singing. So, she goes to practice some more in her room. Later, she goes to the attic and is surprised to find along with the blond wig she was looking for is a poodle skirt, a button-up sweater, a pink scarf, and saddle shoes that belonged to her mother. She decides to go to school the next day in character. Katie calls later and says her sister Emily says that when she tried out for the play in high school, she also had to learn the dances. So, Sabrina gets her mother and father to teach her the jive and the Lindsey. Now, she’s all set.
At the audition, Sabrina is given the part of “Frenchie” to read but is told that won’t necessarily be the part she gets. Sabrina reads the line just as she say the character do in the movie. Stacey is given the role of Sandy but her deliverance is flat. Sabrina is surprised that her brother auditions and sounds good reading his lines. Cameron does great and has combed his hair back like Danny. Then they all have to sing. Stacey does great singing (but then she’s been taking lessons in dancing and singing since she was 4). Sabrina’s singing isn’t great. Sam tells her she was “a little off-key”. Her GT friends encourage her after its over. Sab wants to go back and tell Mr. Rossi she wants Sandy’s part but they tell her he can probably already tell acting skills. They all go to Fitz’s. When Sab sees Stacey and Nick and thinks about how good they look together, she gets an idea. She leaves Fitzies and goes to a store where she gets some temporary blond dye. Then she tries the solution. But it turns off orange. She tries to scrub it out but.. the color stays.
She calls Katie and tells her about how she thought if she dyed her hair blond she’d get the lead. Katie calls Allison and tells her what Sabrina did. They plan to go over to Sabrina’s house. Katie calls Randy and then tells her. Randy says she thinks she knows how to fix it. She use to dye all her friends hair in NY. Randy fixes it in the nick of time. When she’s done Sabrina’s parents come home. Since she promised Randy not to mess with her hair again, she decides to experiment with her look. She tries to give herself a sexy look by wearing a stuffed bra, tall boots, and makeup. She’s meeting her friends at the mall and can’t wait for them to see the new Sabrina, but on the way there it rains and she gets drenched. Blue tissues are showing through her shirt. Katies suggests she go fix herself up before they go to the movie. On the way to the bathroom, she hears Stacey so she ducks into what turns out to be a closet. Then she gets stuck in the closet. When she gets out she’s fallen into Cameron’s arms. In the bathroom, she removes the tissues and decides that she’ll just get the role on her own merits.
Her horrorscope tells her on Monday to take advantage of what she’s got the role of Frencie. Stacey gets Sandy and Cameron gets Danny. Even though she’s disappointed, Cameron tells her she’ll be great in the part. But Sabrina doesn’t even want to be in the play anymore. Sam’s brother and all his friends get parts. Then there’s a “sock hop” dance announced. Sab can’t even get excited about this. By lunch, her friends have convinced her that Frenchie is the better part for her.
Rehearsals go great and Sab loves every minute. Sab comes home with the rest of her friends and finds Cam’s shoes (and then Cam himself) in her kitchen. They’ve all come by to help each other memorize tier lines. Cam says he’s happy to see Sabrina. He says now they can read the girl’s lines. Nick is worried that he won’t be able to do it without the scripts. So, they all go into the family room to practice. They all get the lines and dances down and then take a break. Then they run through the whole thing (no mistakes). At 10:00 the rehearsal party breaks up.
Stacey tho, had NOT got it down by Monday. She forgets her first line and Katie has to feed it to her. She’s the only one who doesn’t know the lines. Cameron has to give her a line. She tries to tell everyone that since her parts the biggest she shouldn’t be expected to know all of her lines, but Cameron knows all his. Stacey gets chewed out after by Dr. Rossi. A week later, one of the cast gets sick and Sabrina suggest Katie take her place. This doesn’t go over so well with Katie, but she does read the part for practice. Katie reluctantly agrees to do the part.
Katie and Sab find the perfect dresses for the dance scene in the attic. The teacher has ordered them “Pink Lady” jackets. Stacey thinks hers should be satin. She *still* hasn’t learned her lines by this point. Rady takes them to the “Opportunity Shop” that sells vintage clothes. Katie finds a hot, pink, scarf. Randy finds a pair of crop pants to wear to the sockhop. Allison finds a purple poodle skirt. Then Randy finds an avocado shirt with pearl buttons to wear with her pants and a pair of black flats. Alison finds a white shirt with an I on it. Then for Katie then find a white sweater and blue, ankle-length, skirt. When she gets home, her parents tell her they’re going to chaperone the sock hop. BUMMER! But Katie says this isn’t a big deal.
Sabrina comes down with a bad case of stage fright and Stacey of course teases her about it. Randy tells her to break a leg and Sab trips over her saddle shoes. Katie catches her. There’s an error at the end where Mr. Gray is Frechie’s guardian angel and he’s hanging in the air and the wire gets kinda out of control but the audience thinks it’s part of the show. Stacey gets flowers but she’s so mad that Sabrina gets more applause she throws them away,
At the Sock Hop, Cameron asks Sabrina to dance the first dance. Her parents are cool and keep their distance. Sabrina and Cameron dance all night. When a slow song comes on Cameron dips. Sabrina is confused until she sees that he’s joined his friends and they’re in boxers that spell out Grease. Cameron then comes back to Sabrina and asks her to dance. Then he kisses her on the cheek. Katie sees. Stacey sees and makes a face, but it doesn’t matter to Sabrina. She’s stolen the show!
My Thoughts
It’s so ironic that the play they were putting on was “Grease”. When I saw it I just groaned Just last year there was a sing a long of Grease where I’m from and my little cousin nearly LOST HER MIND. She (like Sabrina) even planned a party where she wanted us to practice learning the songs. I however am A LOT like Randy. Musicals just are NOT my thing and I’d take a good ol Nightmare on Elm Street flick any day over the week over “Grease”. But unlike the girls in these series who are ALL THE TIME peer pressured into getting involved with activities they’d really rather not like Katie, Allison, and Randy, I did *NOT* get pressured into going to see that three-hour musical. They DID interestingly have “Pink Lady” jackets for sale and drinks. I just do not see the point of doing things you REALLY do not want to do to either appease other people or support other people. I think that seeing Sab IN the play should have been enough to show her they supported her. But it’s something I always notice about books in series. If one of the girls does something instead of doing it by herself because she has an interest in it, she always wants to drag the others into it. OR sometimes they’ll all make themselves involved (I guess as a compromise).
Rating: 5
My cousin would definitely scored this higher. She probably would have given it a 10 and been disappointed I gave it a 5.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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July 21, 2020CULTURAL REFERENCES: Annie; Grease; John Travolta; Olivia Newton John; Lord of the Rings; VCR; Gone with the Wind; Nintendo; Hand-Give (dance); Lindy (dance); Romeo and Juliet; Marilyn Monroe; Sock Hop
April 19, 2020
My favourite quote from this book: “I couldn’t take my eyes off Cameron. He’s the cutest guy in class, and I’ve had a crush on him forever - at least two weeks.” (Page 12)
June 25, 2023
Sabrina’s insult game needs some work: calling your paper-thin MG nemesis Stacy the Great seems…counterintuitive 😂
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
July 9, 2013
these books were like reading a diary each book was different though it was like you were in school again.
March 27, 2015
great book
June 24, 2016
all books from this serial were with me in my childhood and puberty-time ;) and in that time it was great. One time...I will read it with my daughters
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews