What do you think?
Rate this book
Starring Jules #3
Starring Jules: Super-Secret Spy Girl
Lights! Camera! Action! Jules is back to take center stage!
School is out, and Jules is hitting the road! She's off to Montreal where she'll film her first ever movie, The Spy in the Attic. But that means no friends around on her birthday and no birthday party. And with only a hockey player and diva starlet as cast mates in a town where no one speaks her language, Jules is feeling awfully lonely. Good thing her best friend Elinor is sending super-secret spy missions to keep Jules busy. With a little stealth and a whole lot of gumption, she just might be able to turn her bummer summer into a blockbuster.
School is out, and Jules is hitting the road! She's off to Montreal where she'll film her first ever movie, The Spy in the Attic. But that means no friends around on her birthday and no birthday party. And with only a hockey player and diva starlet as cast mates in a town where no one speaks her language, Jules is feeling awfully lonely. Good thing her best friend Elinor is sending super-secret spy missions to keep Jules busy. With a little stealth and a whole lot of gumption, she just might be able to turn her bummer summer into a blockbuster.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published February 25, 2014
6 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Beth Ain
11 books23 followersI was born in Hershey, Pennsylvania, but I got to grow up in Allentown, PA, where I lived across the street from my best friend, rode bikes after school, and got wet to my ankles in the creek in my neighborhood, trying to save frogs from being swept away.
Then some things like junior high and high school happened and I was a cheerleader and a soccer player and a math-homework-avoider and a soap-opera watcher and an inventor of crazy-delicious after school snacks, and I was all kinds of other junior high and high school things. And then, I was lucky enough to go away to college, near the great city of Boston, Massachusetts where I learned a lot and met loads of interesting people and where I made very good friends with a lot of people from New York who dragged me back to New York City with them and well, that was the end of that.
I fell in love with NYC (it took a while but then wow! did I love it), and I met my husband there, and I found my career there, and I had my kids there. And now, because I am from Pennsylvania and because there is just something about a small town, I live in the lovely Port Washington, Long Island where New York City is just a hop, skip, and a train ride away (and where it is more appropriate to blast music while transporting children than it is on the Upper West Side—not that I didn’t try).
Then some things like junior high and high school happened and I was a cheerleader and a soccer player and a math-homework-avoider and a soap-opera watcher and an inventor of crazy-delicious after school snacks, and I was all kinds of other junior high and high school things. And then, I was lucky enough to go away to college, near the great city of Boston, Massachusetts where I learned a lot and met loads of interesting people and where I made very good friends with a lot of people from New York who dragged me back to New York City with them and well, that was the end of that.
I fell in love with NYC (it took a while but then wow! did I love it), and I met my husband there, and I found my career there, and I had my kids there. And now, because I am from Pennsylvania and because there is just something about a small town, I live in the lovely Port Washington, Long Island where New York City is just a hop, skip, and a train ride away (and where it is more appropriate to blast music while transporting children than it is on the Upper West Side—not that I didn’t try).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 10, 2015
Annabelle and I are loving this series.
November 17, 2018
In the third book of the series, Jules starts to film her debut alongside famous hockey player Rick and teen actress Emma.
As she deals with writing to her friends, learning her lines and getting out of New York for summer break with her family along for the ride, she finds her stride in becoming a young actress on her first ever movie set as she finds herself having fun in this new experience as well as being just a bit starstruck around her idol!
One of the best books I've hands down read about movie filming ever as it was short but funny, focusing on the characters personalities and the dramas they face during the book as it goes on and not just prolonging the filming process instead adding in extra drama such as birthdays and friends to keep in touch with.
As she deals with writing to her friends, learning her lines and getting out of New York for summer break with her family along for the ride, she finds her stride in becoming a young actress on her first ever movie set as she finds herself having fun in this new experience as well as being just a bit starstruck around her idol!
One of the best books I've hands down read about movie filming ever as it was short but funny, focusing on the characters personalities and the dramas they face during the book as it goes on and not just prolonging the filming process instead adding in extra drama such as birthdays and friends to keep in touch with.
December 16, 2018
Charming series continues with the their entry here, there is something about it which makes you want to come back, partly the story but I think it is the characters who draw you into their world and make you want to stay.
August 30, 2021
I think I liked this book the best out of the 4 books in the series, though I liked the 4th book a lot too.
August 6, 2016
Appealing Heroine, A Zippy Tale With the Ring of Truth
Here's why I really liked this book - of the many elementary school heroine tales I've read, Jules has the best balance of humor, insight, moodiness, cheerfulness, snark, spirit and vulnerability. She is like a perfectly balanced version of the ideal, but real and normal, second grade kid. Usually these sorts of stories go off the rails at some point, but this book was consistently authentic, (if idealized), good humored, and entertaining.
The plot is neither promising nor unpromising. As a prospective reader you read the summary and take a wait and see attitude. Jules finishes second grade and then leaves, with her family, to travel to Canada to film her first movie, in which she will be the plucky little kid who gets involved in a spying scheme. The stars will be a sports-star-turned-movie hero and a female teen idol.
Now, what does our author do with that premise? Well, Jules is prone, as part of her narrative, to make lists, (which works really well to keep the action going, move the plot along, and keep the young reader up to speed on what's happening). Here's my list of what the author does well: Jules' description of the last day of second grade, her summer farewell to her BFF, and her summer escape from the sort-of mean girls is funny, sharply observed, touching, and very engaging. Jules' family is affectionately introduced, warts and all. Jules has a melt down when she learns that the family is driving rather than flying to Canada. The meltdown is realistically described, and effectively reminds us that Jules is a kid. From there, we get a funny road trip, some pretty tart observations about movie stars and film making, some movie magic, a few ups and downs for our heroine, and a charming and satisfying happy ending for everyone.
My point is that while the book touches on all of the teen angst hot buttons - mean girls, feelings of dorkiness, fear of failure or inadequacy, the confusion and dismay that is part of growing up, the sometimes fleeting and sometimes solid and comforting bonds of friendship, disappointed expectations and surprising pleasures - it is all done with a light touch, a positive outlook, honest regard for the virtues of friends and family, and a fundamental sense optimism. None of this is preachy or laid on too heavily.
So, it's funny; it's appealing; it's wise and knowing, on second grader terms. A nice find.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
Here's why I really liked this book - of the many elementary school heroine tales I've read, Jules has the best balance of humor, insight, moodiness, cheerfulness, snark, spirit and vulnerability. She is like a perfectly balanced version of the ideal, but real and normal, second grade kid. Usually these sorts of stories go off the rails at some point, but this book was consistently authentic, (if idealized), good humored, and entertaining.
The plot is neither promising nor unpromising. As a prospective reader you read the summary and take a wait and see attitude. Jules finishes second grade and then leaves, with her family, to travel to Canada to film her first movie, in which she will be the plucky little kid who gets involved in a spying scheme. The stars will be a sports-star-turned-movie hero and a female teen idol.
Now, what does our author do with that premise? Well, Jules is prone, as part of her narrative, to make lists, (which works really well to keep the action going, move the plot along, and keep the young reader up to speed on what's happening). Here's my list of what the author does well: Jules' description of the last day of second grade, her summer farewell to her BFF, and her summer escape from the sort-of mean girls is funny, sharply observed, touching, and very engaging. Jules' family is affectionately introduced, warts and all. Jules has a melt down when she learns that the family is driving rather than flying to Canada. The meltdown is realistically described, and effectively reminds us that Jules is a kid. From there, we get a funny road trip, some pretty tart observations about movie stars and film making, some movie magic, a few ups and downs for our heroine, and a charming and satisfying happy ending for everyone.
My point is that while the book touches on all of the teen angst hot buttons - mean girls, feelings of dorkiness, fear of failure or inadequacy, the confusion and dismay that is part of growing up, the sometimes fleeting and sometimes solid and comforting bonds of friendship, disappointed expectations and surprising pleasures - it is all done with a light touch, a positive outlook, honest regard for the virtues of friends and family, and a fundamental sense optimism. None of this is preachy or laid on too heavily.
So, it's funny; it's appealing; it's wise and knowing, on second grader terms. A nice find.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
December 19, 2016
Second grade has just ended, which means it’s time for Jules Bloom, budding actress, to begin filming her first movie, The Spy in the Attic. Unfortunately, Charlotte, her old best friend, has Jules completely worried about impressing her teen idol costar, Emma Saxony, and her new best friend, Elinor, has gone back to her home country of England for a visit, and they can only keep in touch by email. Worse yet, Jules is being forced to take a road trip to her Canadian filming location with Teddy, who is usually nice, but always very weird. Jules worries that without Elinor she might not have the courage to go down the mud slide in the movie’s climax, and that she might not live up to the sparkling personality she presented in her audition for her role.
I really loved the first Starring Jules book, but as is often the case with series, the stories seem to grow weaker as volumes are added. I continue to enjoy the way Beth Ain portrays Jules as a normal girl who just happens to become an actress, as I think girls really relate to her down to earth personality and her fears about show business. I think, too, that the relationships between Jules and her classmates are completely authentic, and their dialogue, in particular, seems like it could have come from real conversations among real kids. I’m just not sure this book does anything different than what previous volumes have done. Kids might be fascinated by the idea of being behind the scenes of a movie, but I didn’t feel like that alone was enough to carry a whole book. Jules is a delightful character, and there are few others like her, but there are only so many stories to tell about her uncertainty about her acting abilities.
This time around, Jules reminded me of Stella Batts, and of Ida May from the Friends for Keeps books. Though I was not that excited by the plot in this third book, I still think the series as a whole is one of the best being published for this age group right now, and I have every intention of picking up the fourth book.
I really loved the first Starring Jules book, but as is often the case with series, the stories seem to grow weaker as volumes are added. I continue to enjoy the way Beth Ain portrays Jules as a normal girl who just happens to become an actress, as I think girls really relate to her down to earth personality and her fears about show business. I think, too, that the relationships between Jules and her classmates are completely authentic, and their dialogue, in particular, seems like it could have come from real conversations among real kids. I’m just not sure this book does anything different than what previous volumes have done. Kids might be fascinated by the idea of being behind the scenes of a movie, but I didn’t feel like that alone was enough to carry a whole book. Jules is a delightful character, and there are few others like her, but there are only so many stories to tell about her uncertainty about her acting abilities.
This time around, Jules reminded me of Stella Batts, and of Ida May from the Friends for Keeps books. Though I was not that excited by the plot in this third book, I still think the series as a whole is one of the best being published for this age group right now, and I have every intention of picking up the fourth book.
March 5, 2014
As second grade comes to a close, budding thespian Jules Bloom heads off to Montreal to begin filming a movie. Her best friend Elinor leaves for England while her former friend Charlotte is off to a drama camp. While Jules loves acting, she is anxious about learning her lines, completing the stunts, and fitting in. The fact that the teen star of the film is dismissive toward her makes her even more nervous. Fans of the previous books in this series won't be disappointed as this young girl tries to figure out how to balance everything in her life. The fact that some things come easily for her while others don't and that her relationships with her friends are complicate makes the book and the character of Jules even more interesting.
June 30, 2014
Jules' adventures continue in the third book in her series, Starring Jules (super-secret spy girl). A road trip to Canada and potential stardom are the main focus of Jules' worries in this newest installment. Jules also deals with more down to earth worries that other readers will easily relate to: friends moving, a birthday celebration away from home, mean friends, and family problems. Elementary school readers who enjoyed Judy Moody and Junie B. Jones but are looking for a slightly more advanced text will find the Starring Jules series to be a perfect fit.
July 23, 2016
Is book is great. It is a great influence for young girls. Jules is so funny and smart. All the characters are amazing! My favorite character has to be Elinor, is very funny and is the classic British girl. Now the reason I gave this book 4 stars and not 5, is because the foreshadowing made it very easy to tell what is going to happen. The foreshadowing was obvious in one part were Jules' mom was on the phone with Teddy's mom. I would definitely call this book a quick read! Make sure to checkout this book!
March 4, 2014
We waited months for this book! Pre-ordered it on amazon so we could be one of the first ones to read it! And let me tell you, we were not let down at all! My daughter loves this series! It's entertaining for both kids and adults! We really feel connected to the characters in the book--and are secretly hoping it's turned into a movie! Anxiously awaiting book number 4 in the series...
April 29, 2014
Quirky, budding actress Jules is back in a third installment in a series that is best read in order. Jules is brimming with energy and her voice will appeal to young readers of series such as Junie B., Gooney Bird and Clementine.
Want to read
February 15, 2014Starring Jules was a amazing book I loved it because it always made me so interested. I hope you enjoy the book too.
April 28, 2014
Jules is a fun, perky character! Her stories are sweet and lively. Great for 2nd and third grade girls.
September 10, 2016
Still adorable. Jules is plucky, clever and motivated, and a great new character to add to the canon of beginning chapter books.
April 30, 2016
Arc sent forever ago, and I finally got down to reading it.
Okay, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it as a little girl.
Okay, but I wouldn't have enjoyed it as a little girl.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews