Book Review: Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings by Sophia Bennett

Book: Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings by Sophia Bennett
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Inc. (US), Chicken House (UK)
Publication date: 2010 (US), 2009 (UK)
Pages: 281

Summary: Four girls in London take on the world of movies, fashion, and social change.

Thoughts: This book, originally published as Threads in the UK, would have been inspiring to me at about age 12. These girls take on huge tasks like full-scale fashion shows, Hollywood movie roles and award ceremonies, and non-profit fundraising websites. As an adult, my thought at the end was: gee, can’t we just let kids be kids for a few years.

Appeal: This is a book for girls. There are some depressing real world elements in it, but they are handled carefully so I think a ten year old would probably be fine with it. Certainly a twelve year old (the age of the youngest main character) or fourteen year old (the age of the other major characters) would make a good audience. It will appeal to girls who like one or more of: fashion, social causes, or movies, which I imagine includes most girls who read English.

Challenges: Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings will be my third book in my British Books Challenge to read six British books.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

Comments

Book Review: Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings by Sophia Bennett — 5 Comments

Ali on May 24, 2011 at 8:25 am said:

If you want an interesting look at what makes someone English, I recommend “Watching the English” by anthropologist Kate Fox, who is eerily insightful about the level of junk in my car and how often I talk about the weather. It’s a nonfiction study of English traits (and would count as a British book). I could loan you mine as I think it’s hard to get in the US.

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Joy Weese Moll on May 24, 2011 at 8:38 am said:

That sounds like fun, Ali! Thanks! I would love to borrow your copy.

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Margot on May 31, 2011 at 6:20 pm said:

I requested this book as well as Five Flavors of Dumb from the library. My 12-year-old granddaughter and I are going to read several of the same books together this summer and compare notes. I’m going to send the link to this post to her so she can decide if this appeals to her. Thanks for sharing, Joy.

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Ms. Yingling on June 3, 2011 at 8:17 pm said:

I liked this one; it wasn’t as “pink” as it seemed from the cover. You should definitely pick up Gillian Cross’s Where I Belong to accompany this one if you need another British book.

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