I Don't Know How the Story Ends

August 3, 2015
When 12-year-old Isobel’s mother takes her daughters to California for the summer to stay with her sister, the family gets a rapid introduction to Hollywood’s burgeoning motion picture industry. It’s 1918, Isobel’s physician father has been aiding soldiers in France for months, and the worry is eating at her. But she is quickly swept up by Aunt Buzzy’s adopted son and his cameraman, who are obsessed with making a film that will catch the eye of (real-life) director D.W. Griffith. Their weakness is script writing, which turns out to be Isobel’s strength, and her younger sister, Sylvie, is quite the actress. Cheaney (Somebody on This Bus Is Going to Be Famous) offers a zippy coming-of-age romp featuring cameos from film stars like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, as well as lovely descriptions of a blooming Hollywood (“The house suddenly bulged with young men and ladies whose wild hair and flashing eyes and reckless laughter broke the evening into sharp, bright little pieces”). Readers will be absorbed as Cheaney’s characters embrace their creativity and find comfort through the art of film. Ages 10–up. Agent: Erin Buterbaugh, MacGregor Literary Agency.

Starred review from September 1, 2015
The early days of cinema change a young girl's perspective on war. To escape the Seattle rain and the gloom caused by her physician father's departure to serve in World War I, 12-year-old Isobel's mother packs the family (including 5-year-old sister Sylvie) off to visit Aunt Buzzy, who's recently married and moved to a small California town called Hollywood. Buzzy's stepson, Ranger, is obsessed with the town's nascent film industry and quickly pulls Isobel, whom he tags for his leading lady, into a series of escapades, including nearly drowning Sylvie, impersonating a Boy Scout in a war bonds parade, and pretending to be a real movie extra, all so he can create a movie that will impress his favorite director. Isobel is intrigued by the way film allows stories to be created from small scenes shot out of order; she begins to love the art of moviemaking. When her father returns home badly damaged, Ranger's movie becomes a way to express the family's love and grief. The novel is packed with cameos by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin (most of whom will be unfamiliar to young readers but will nonetheless tantalize), fascinating tidbits about the early days of film, and a relentless series of action scenes. Set dressing and quick pace aside, as narrated by Isobel, the story relies on-and delivers-solid characterization to drive it forward. Impressive on all fronts. (Historical fiction. 8-12)

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August 1, 2015

Gr 5-7-Isobel's father is serving overseas in the Great War, and she misses him terribly. But when her mother moves the family from Seattle to Los Angeles for the summer, her world is truly turned upside down. This is the golden age of cinema, and Hollywood is the center of it all. Isobel's tour guide is her stepcousin, Ranger, a biracial renegade auteur with a habit for sneaking onto film sets to stalk his favorite directors. Ranger and his friend Sam, the son of an alcoholic cameraman, have a plan to make a moving picture and enlist Isobel and her impulsive little sister, Sylvie, to star. Unfortunately, this plan also involves more than a little "borrowing" of film equipment and facilities. The 13-year-old sheds her responsible nature and is swept up in the allure of it all. Cheaney's well-researched descriptions of the complex filmmaking equipment and processes of the silent era will surely amaze any reader used to casually filming their world with a smartphone. Cheaney also recounts several real silent films of the era, which may encourage some readers to broaden their movie-watching choices. The narrative tends to feel unnecessarily long at points, but the electrifying setting of early Hollywood, along with the ever-relevant story of a young girl's search for stability in an increasingly chaotic world, make this a winner. VERDICT Industrious, creative, and resourceful young characters will charm those interested in the life-changing magic of filmmaking.-Anna Murphy, Berkeley Carroll School Library, Brooklyn

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2016
When Isobel's father enlists in the Medical Corps during WWI, his assurance that bullets won't get me offers only uneasy comfort. Seeking a change of scenery from rainy Seattle, Isobel's mother takes her and her younger sister to visit their ebullient aunt, Buzzy, in Los Angeles. The adults believe that Aunt Buzzy's thirteen-year-old stepson, Ranger, will be a great companion for the girls, but he's more interested in making films than making friends. Ranger and his buddy Sam are obsessed with filming a movie intended to catch the eye of D. W. Griffith and create an entree for themselves into the industry. While long on technical skill, the boys have only a bare-bones script, so Isobel steps in with rewrites. These end up being unintentionally autobiographical, with the worry about her father never far from her mind. Cheaney establishes setting partly by name- dropping, introducing readers to Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett, and Douglas Fairbanks. But the real sense of the times comes with the freedom of the characters to roam the Hollywood Hills on their own and, like many a movie character from those days, the confidence that they can indeed produce a fine show. There's plenty of melodrama to both the movie script and Isobel's real-life situation, but her coming of age rings true. betty carter

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)