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Frankie Sparks #2
Frankie Sparks and the Talent Show Trick (2)
Frankie Sparks uses her inventing skills to help her friend overcome stage fright in this second chapter book in the STEM inspired Frankie Sparks, Third-Grade Inventor series.
It’s time for the annual school talent show, and Frankie is excited to audition with her magic act! She wants to be just like her idol, Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic. But on the day of the audition, Frankie’s best friend and Magician’s Assistant, Maya, gets a big, scary case of stage fright! How can Maya be Frankie’s helper on stage if she can’t bring herself to speak in front of their audience? It’s up to Frankie Sparks to invent just the perfect thing to help her best friend cope with the spotlight!
It’s time for the annual school talent show, and Frankie is excited to audition with her magic act! She wants to be just like her idol, Adelaide Herrmann, Queen of Magic. But on the day of the audition, Frankie’s best friend and Magician’s Assistant, Maya, gets a big, scary case of stage fright! How can Maya be Frankie’s helper on stage if she can’t bring herself to speak in front of their audience? It’s up to Frankie Sparks to invent just the perfect thing to help her best friend cope with the spotlight!
- GenresChildrens
128 pages, Paperback
Published June 18, 2019
8 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Megan Frazer Blakemore
18 books170 followersMegan Frazer Blakemore is an author for children and young adults. She lives with her husband and children in Maine. She has worked in both school and public libraries, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in library science at Simmons SLIS.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 29, 2020
Children's first chapter book. Frankie is a 3rd grader who likes to invent things. But in this book, she's also a magician. After a magic show with her friend Maya goes off swimmingly for their families, Frankie is devastated when Maya is overcome by stage fright at the talent show auditions. Frankie convinces the teacher to let them in anyway, and gets to work on circumventing Maya's stage fright. With advice from multiple people including the owner of the magic store and a classmate, Maya and Frankie change their routine, invent a new tool, and are able to perform in the talent show successfully. This is a cute STEM-focused story about problem solving and the engineering design process. I could have used a picture of Frankie's invention earlier in the story, but it was finally revealed at the end.
April 1, 2023
I'm not in love with this series, but I don't hate it. In this one they're having a school talent show. Frankie wants to do magic so she makes a whole thing with her best friend Maya as her assistant, but Maya has stage fright and can't hold the cards she needs to. Frankie tries to find a solution and I guess she does?I don't think this book did much to help kids ho have stage fright or shyness and it seemed kind of pointless.
January 9, 2021
Sanaya Talks Books:
I like Frankie Sparks because she is an inventor. She invents the coolest things. She has a very creative mind. She works hard and never gives up. But sometimes she is a little mean to Lila Jones and Ravi.
I like Frankie Sparks’ books because it teaches me to think wildly and be creative. Frankie invents such nice things which makes me want to invent some designs myself.
I like Frankie and Maya’s friendship. They are very strong as friends and even when they are angry with each other they never get apart.
Mommy Likes:
I came to know about this series through the Texas Bluebonnet Master list. This list comprises of 20 books for students from Grade 3 to Grade 5. At the end of the year students from various schools vote for their favorite books. The first book in this series, ‘Frankie Sparks and the class pet‘ has been nominated for the Bluebonnet award for 2020-21.
Though this series features in the Bluebonnet list which is meant for higher grades, its premise was intriguing enough for us to order the first book in the series. Frankie Sparks is in 3rd grade and likes to invent new things. She considers herself to be the best 3rd grade inventor. The series is a look at her life and problems while she is busy inventing things.
The series has 4 books currently;
Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet
Frankie Sparks and the Talent Show Trick
Frankie Sparks and the Big Sled Challenge
Frankie Sparks and the Lucky Charm
We have read all four and have really liked the character of Frankie Sparks. Though the premise of these books sound like some scientific knowledge would be imparted through Frankie Sparks, these books deal more with the interpersonal problems that kids of these age face. At the age when they are discovering their own self worth and competitiveness, how do they handle working with people who do not probably think the same or have different opinions than theirs.
In the first book, each student in Frankie’s class is asked to nominate an animal for class pet but there are many conditions to it. The problem that Frankie faces is that while she wants a rat for class pet her best friend Maya wants a betta fish. Not having her best friend on her side makes Frankie upset and the story is a peek into how she comes around while also finding a solution to feed the rat (if chosen as class pet) on weekends.
The second book is about Frankie wanting to participate in a talent show as a magician but Maya as her assistant is too nervous to perform. How will Frankie deal with this problem which seems hopeless and doesn’t seem to have a solution?
The third book is about designing a sled using only cardboards and duct tape for a contest where Frankie is supposed to work in a team. Till now all the things Frankie has designed are completely her own, so how will she deal working in a team where people have different ideas?
The fourth book in the series again deals with difference in opinions between Frankie and Maya with regards to leprechauns. In the end Frankie learns an important lesson in experimenting and failing.
Though Frankie Sparks series seems very similar to the Zoey and Sassafras books that we reviewed recently, they are poles apart. Though both feature African-American protagonist and have science at its core, Frankie’s books deal more with interpersonal issues as compared to actual science. (To check my review of Zoey and Sassafras please click here: https://inbetweenbookmarks.wordpress....)
Frankie Sparks as a character is as real to actual children as we can get in fiction. She is not saccharine sweet nor is she a bully. She has her strengths and she has weaknesses. Her strengths are her intelligence, her fierce loyalty to her best friend, and her acceptance of someone’s better ideas as well as her own academic weaknesses.
However, Frankie can at times become utterly selfish due to her ambition, thus forgetting to consider other’s feelings, which could turn her into a mean child. But always at the end of the book Frankie realizes her mistakes and apologizes as well as compensates for her mistake. And for me as a parent that is the best part of the book. Having some ambitions of your own are good but realizing that those ambitions and feelings might hurt someone else and then to amend them, however, while still maintaining your individuality , now that’s a win-win.
The books come with black and white illustrations which are not many. I guess that is because the books are meant for advanced readers and the author would like them to use their imagination. However, when Frankie’s designs are being described, a few illustrations would have helped the kids understand the designing process better thus helping them in their own little projects. That is the only negative that I felt about the book.
Though the books are part of a series they can easily be read as standalone and in any order. The books are almost 100-120 pages but with big fonts, and the overall size of the book is small. An advanced reader might be able to finish the books in an hour. For an inside peek into the books head over to my Instagram page at http://www.instagram.com/inbetweenboo...
Given the varied emotions that this books deal with and many details of Frankie’s designing process of her inventions, the book is suggested for kids of 7.5 yrs and above. Though Sanaya just turned 7 and reads fluently it took my intervention for her to grasp the underlying themes of the books. These books as read-aloud won’t be that effective as much as reading them on their own.
Verdict:
We would definitely recommend this series for kids in higher grade, this book has a lot of possibilities and learnings for the young minds.
I like Frankie Sparks because she is an inventor. She invents the coolest things. She has a very creative mind. She works hard and never gives up. But sometimes she is a little mean to Lila Jones and Ravi.
I like Frankie Sparks’ books because it teaches me to think wildly and be creative. Frankie invents such nice things which makes me want to invent some designs myself.
I like Frankie and Maya’s friendship. They are very strong as friends and even when they are angry with each other they never get apart.
Mommy Likes:
I came to know about this series through the Texas Bluebonnet Master list. This list comprises of 20 books for students from Grade 3 to Grade 5. At the end of the year students from various schools vote for their favorite books. The first book in this series, ‘Frankie Sparks and the class pet‘ has been nominated for the Bluebonnet award for 2020-21.
Though this series features in the Bluebonnet list which is meant for higher grades, its premise was intriguing enough for us to order the first book in the series. Frankie Sparks is in 3rd grade and likes to invent new things. She considers herself to be the best 3rd grade inventor. The series is a look at her life and problems while she is busy inventing things.
The series has 4 books currently;
Frankie Sparks and the Class Pet
Frankie Sparks and the Talent Show Trick
Frankie Sparks and the Big Sled Challenge
Frankie Sparks and the Lucky Charm
We have read all four and have really liked the character of Frankie Sparks. Though the premise of these books sound like some scientific knowledge would be imparted through Frankie Sparks, these books deal more with the interpersonal problems that kids of these age face. At the age when they are discovering their own self worth and competitiveness, how do they handle working with people who do not probably think the same or have different opinions than theirs.
In the first book, each student in Frankie’s class is asked to nominate an animal for class pet but there are many conditions to it. The problem that Frankie faces is that while she wants a rat for class pet her best friend Maya wants a betta fish. Not having her best friend on her side makes Frankie upset and the story is a peek into how she comes around while also finding a solution to feed the rat (if chosen as class pet) on weekends.
The second book is about Frankie wanting to participate in a talent show as a magician but Maya as her assistant is too nervous to perform. How will Frankie deal with this problem which seems hopeless and doesn’t seem to have a solution?
The third book is about designing a sled using only cardboards and duct tape for a contest where Frankie is supposed to work in a team. Till now all the things Frankie has designed are completely her own, so how will she deal working in a team where people have different ideas?
The fourth book in the series again deals with difference in opinions between Frankie and Maya with regards to leprechauns. In the end Frankie learns an important lesson in experimenting and failing.
Though Frankie Sparks series seems very similar to the Zoey and Sassafras books that we reviewed recently, they are poles apart. Though both feature African-American protagonist and have science at its core, Frankie’s books deal more with interpersonal issues as compared to actual science. (To check my review of Zoey and Sassafras please click here: https://inbetweenbookmarks.wordpress....)
Frankie Sparks as a character is as real to actual children as we can get in fiction. She is not saccharine sweet nor is she a bully. She has her strengths and she has weaknesses. Her strengths are her intelligence, her fierce loyalty to her best friend, and her acceptance of someone’s better ideas as well as her own academic weaknesses.
However, Frankie can at times become utterly selfish due to her ambition, thus forgetting to consider other’s feelings, which could turn her into a mean child. But always at the end of the book Frankie realizes her mistakes and apologizes as well as compensates for her mistake. And for me as a parent that is the best part of the book. Having some ambitions of your own are good but realizing that those ambitions and feelings might hurt someone else and then to amend them, however, while still maintaining your individuality , now that’s a win-win.
The books come with black and white illustrations which are not many. I guess that is because the books are meant for advanced readers and the author would like them to use their imagination. However, when Frankie’s designs are being described, a few illustrations would have helped the kids understand the designing process better thus helping them in their own little projects. That is the only negative that I felt about the book.
Though the books are part of a series they can easily be read as standalone and in any order. The books are almost 100-120 pages but with big fonts, and the overall size of the book is small. An advanced reader might be able to finish the books in an hour. For an inside peek into the books head over to my Instagram page at http://www.instagram.com/inbetweenboo...
Given the varied emotions that this books deal with and many details of Frankie’s designing process of her inventions, the book is suggested for kids of 7.5 yrs and above. Though Sanaya just turned 7 and reads fluently it took my intervention for her to grasp the underlying themes of the books. These books as read-aloud won’t be that effective as much as reading them on their own.
Verdict:
We would definitely recommend this series for kids in higher grade, this book has a lot of possibilities and learnings for the young minds.
August 12, 2019
This is magician fun, great friendship and STEM inspiration all rolled into one. In this addition to the Frankie Sparks series, Frankie wants to be the greatest magician in the world - or at least perform magic tricks in the talent show with her best friend, Maya. Unfortunately Maya has terrible stage fright which gets in the way of awesome magic. Can creativity and problem solving fix stage fright? It can if you’re a thoughtful inventor. I love all the wonderful-ness that is combined into these pleasant chapter books. This latest Frankie Sparks book is full of heart and inventiveness, with a little bit of magic for extra fun.
November 29, 2021
Very cute inventions
November 25, 2019
Frankie Sparks, a very self confident third grader, who loves to be on stage, feels passion as she watches the performance of the great Tatiana Celestia, at the town theatre. Tatianna, brown skinned just like Frankie, is a magician who performes amazing magic tricks during the show. Frankie gets to go backstage and meet her with her best friend Maya. After receiving some great advice from Tatiana, "study and practice," she does just that along with Maya. Their first performance is entertaining with just a few glitches. Yet, working with a best friend can be tricky. Readers will enjoy discovering some ideas for creating magic tricks themselves along the way, as they cheer for success for the young magicians. Readers interested in STEM and Makerspace will find great inspiration in this entertaining title.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews