My latest young adult novel, Here's How I See It—Here's How It Is, publishes this month (April 28), and I just got this very nice review from Publishers Weekly.
Here's How I See It—Here's How It Is Heather Henson. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-4169-4901-5
Throughout the school year, budding actress June “Junebug” Cantrell feels like a fish out of water. Summers, however, are different. Working as a stagehand at the Blue Moon Playhouse, a theater run by her actor/director father, Junebug usually basks in the company of grownups “who think I'm this funny, precocious, mature-for-my-age kid.” Unfortunately, the Blue Moon becomes less a refuge than a source of trauma the summer Junebug turns 13. Her father goes “totally gaga” over a pretty, young actress; her mother moves out; and Junebug is upstaged by intern Trace, whose odd behavior and soft stutter get on her nerves. Alternating Junebug's fantasies (“Here's how I see it: As a famous Broadway actress, there are so many demands on my time”) with her more mundane reality (“Here's how it is: Office Duty”), Henson (Making the Run) creates a funny, bittersweet story filled with colorful personalities and plenty of backstage detail and drama.
Readers will empathize with Junebug as she yearns for a place at center stage and for a happy ending for her broken family. Ages 10–14. (Apr.)
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