cover image Charlotte the Starlet

Charlotte the Starlet

Barbara Ware Holmes. HarperCollins Publishers, $12.95 (120pp) ISBN 978-0-06-022589-6

Charlotte, first discovered in Charlotte Cheetham: Master of Disaster, returns with a new place to put her liesin her new novel. Fat Pat Flack is a critical successat least among the fifth-grade lunch set at school. But Charlotte goes for the cheap thrillsanything to get the kids to like her workand is fast becoming a hack writer. And her path of deterioration parallels the perils of the real world: phonies sidle up to her, looking for a part in the play based on the book; her real friend deserts her; and unwanted advice comes from people wanting a piece of the action. Charlotte renews her literary aspirations just in time in this very funny novel; Himmelman adds his own black-and-white comic twists. Together, author and illustrator create a perfect microcosm of the lure of the big time, perfect for middle-grade readers. Ages 9-11. (March)