Stage Fright

by Ann M. Martin, Blanche Sims (Illustrator)

Shy Sara panics when her fourth-grade teacher announces that her class is to perform a play before the entire school, but eventually learns that stage fright can sometimes be healthy.

Genres: Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, School, Friendship

127 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Ann Matthews Martin was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane. After graduating from Smith College, Ann became a teacher and then an editor of children's books. She's now a full-time writer.

Ann gets the ideas for her books from many different places. Some are based on personal experiences, while others are based on childhood memories and feelings. Many are written about contemporary problems or events. All of Ann's characters, even the members of the Baby-sitters Club, are made up. But many of her characters are based on real people. Sometimes Ann names her characters after people she knows, and other times she simply chooses names that she likes.

Ann has always enjoyed writing. Even before she was old enough to write, she would dictate stories to her mother to write down for her. Some of her favorite authors at that time were Lewis Carroll, P. L. Travers, Hugh Lofting, Astrid Lindgren, and Roald Dahl. They inspired her to become a writer herself.

Since ending the BSC series in 2000, Ann’s writing has concentrated on single novels, many of which are set in the 1960s.

After living in New York City for many years, Ann moved to the Hudson Valley in upstate New York where she now lives with her dog, Sadie, and her cats, Gussie, Willy and Woody. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and needlework. Her favorite thing to do is to make clothes for children.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/annmma...

Reviews

[cubbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this book when i was a kid and so much of it has stuck with me in really funny ways. it was the first time i'd ever heard of those crackers that you pull and they explode and stuff comes out. and the first time that i'd ever heard of a roto-rooter.

the epic of barbie and ken is the best part. i want to read the whole thing.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first Ann M Martin book that I ever read back in 1985 and it really brings that summer when I was ten back to me. :) This is a really cute story about a painfully shy girl who is forced to act in her class's school play.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sara is forced (like every child is at some point) to take part in a play at school. What's even worse? She has to have a SPEAKING PART!

Well, it's a common enough trope / storyline, right down to the so-called friend who 'protects' the other child from having to ever go outside their comfort zone. What I liked about this take on the plot is how Sara never experienced some dramatic shift in how she thought or felt about public speaking. She still hates it, even when the play is over. What makes this real, is how well she's able to articulate this to her parents who never quite 'got it' in the course of the book.

Sara is a great heroine who has a lot of uncomfortable moments. What I like best is how 'real' she is. This is the genius of Ann M. Martin, in being able to create characters which resonate with the reader. Even in her growth, she's still the same Sara underneath at all, introverted and somewhat shy. She's stronger now, and is a little more outgoing, but she's not the extrovert. She's just...Sara.

I like that a lot.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book as a kid. I related a lot to Sara, who was a very shy kid. When it's announced that her class will be putting on a school play with mandatory participation from everybody, Sara is so upset. Also, her best friend might have to move away. Sara's mom can't understand why Sara isn't thrilled to be part of the play, and she is always pushing Sara to be more outgoing. Will Sara be able to learn to see this play as a growth opportunity?

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, a very short and snappy read. Sara's mom was possibly the worst character in the history of literature, but at least the Sir Alec Guinness confusion was pretty hilarious. (Although it's a dated reference that kids today probably wouldn't get.)

[Rose 'I Have Too Many Books To Read And No More Room' Barrientos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up with undiagnosed anxiety...this hits home for me. Why did the kid have to do the damn play, why was it important for her to constantly have to be social and what was so wrong with her knitting and doing creative stuff?

The mom was a total bitch.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't actually find this until a few years after I'd read Me and Katie the Pest, yet it's actually the prequel, not a sequel as I first imagined. Sara was a bit wet, I liked M&KTP better.

[Cws]

JEAR3-Mar

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have been in many of the same situations Sara was, only not the main one. I've always been cripplingly shy, but a fan of being on stage

[Kami · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was younger. I had bad stage fright too...