Girl Reporter Gets the Skinny!

Get Real #7

by Linda Ellerbee

School newspaper reporter Casey Smith searches out the person who is trying to sabotage Trumbull Middle School's star cheerleader, while also puzzling over her friends' constant worrying about their looks.

Genres: Middle Grade

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 2001

About the author

Linda Ellerbee (born Linda Jane Smith) is a journalist who is most known for several jobs at NBC News, including Washington (DC) correspondent, and reporter and co-anchor of NBC News Overnight, which was recognized by the duPont Columbia Awards as "the best written and most intelligent news program ever."

Ms. Ellerbee's production company, Lucky Ducky Productions, has earned a reputation as a supplier of outstanding children's programming for network, syndication, cable, and public television. Originally from Texas, Ms. Ellerbee now divides her time between New York City and western Massachusetts.

Reviews

[kb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've waited for literally half my life to get my hands on the rest of this series, and I couldn't be any happier to find out that Casey Smith is consistently adorable in an 11-year-old investigative reporter, best friend of a sort-of-bohemian guy cheerleader AND a boy named after a beast in a far, far away land kind of way. And her adventures as a journalist, I could relate! (Quick trivia: Why I love Casey Smith: Get Real #3 was the book that ~ignited my nosey-sity, news-wise, AND my dream to write for a living and for life)! Especially in this book, where body image is the central theme. I'm not digging the stereotypes but they're very apt. Male self-consciousness is also tackled here so props to gender sensitivity. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[Zoe Star]

awesome