Kind of a Big Deal

By: Shannon Hale

Narrated by: Amanda Dolan

From Shannon Hale, best-selling author of Austenland, comes Kind of a Big Deal: a hilarious, madcap story that will suck you in - literally.

There's nothing worse than peaking in high school. Nobody knows that better than Josie Pie.

She was kind of a big deal - she dropped out of high school to be a star! But the bigger you are, the harder you fall. And Josie fell. Hard. Ouch. Broadway dream: dead.

Meanwhile, her life keeps imploding. Best friend: distant. Boyfriend: busy. Mom: not playing with a full deck? Desperate to escape, Josie gets into reading.

Literally. She reads a book and suddenly she's inside it. And with each book, she’s a different character: a post-apocalyptic heroine, the lead in a YA rom-com, a 17th-century wench in a corset.

It’s alarming. But also...kind of amazing?

It’s the perfect way to live out her fantasies. Book after book, Josie the failed star finds a new way to shine. But the longer she stays in a story, the harder it becomes to escape.

Will Josie find a story so good that she just stays forever?

A Macmillan Audio production from Roaring Brook Press

©2020 Shannon Hale (P)2020 Macmillan Audio

This IS a great Shannon Hale book!

The people who are pooh-poohing this book have not engaged in much self-examination or reflection. This book SPEAKS to anyone who has projected their own expectations and desires and imagination onto others, seeing things through rose colored glasses, anyone who has had to face hard facts about themselves when at tough (but not rock bottom) places in life. This book is exemplary Shannon Hale work, and like always, it does not disappoint. It was refreshing, captivating, and reminded me to treat people as THEY need, not as I imagine they need.

Overall: A Box Office Hit

Honestly, I could see this doing well at the movies, I’d love to see a script for this. It’s the right amount of comedy, romance, with added suspense/thrill and heartwarming moments. I enjoyed it enough to purchase a physical copy to read even though the performance was great! There are a few mentions of promiscuity in reference to a book within this book, but for the most part it is “clean” and I think I like that just as much as the story.

hits beautifully close to home

Having just spent two years in an acting school being trained for the stage and screen at a professional level (and hearing many many success stories about how difficult it is to "make it" no matter how talented you are - persistence over many years being the deciding factor,and even then no stardom), having spent time surrounded by late teen/early twenties theatre students who all had some level of Josie's experiences... this was beautifully painful.

Josie's relationship with little Mia was so sweet. I felt so angry at her acting teacher for sending her out so ill-prepared that she thought a single mediocre audition meant failure. I cheered when her fantasy character defeated the enemies, and in the climax I was on the edge of my seat to see how she'd make it (spoiler alert, this isn't a tragedy).

i love Shannon Hale anyway, but this particular novel hit close to home in a beautiful way.

It was a slow story

I really like this author but did not care so much about this story. Was easy to out it down and had to make myself complete it. Way to many cheesy lines for me. I can see some teens liking it and understand it is a YA read.

Enjoyable!

Really enjoyed this book! It fits in the romantic/coming of age genre, but doesn’t feel like a repeat of the same old thing. It’s original and has a funny, lighthearted feel. But at the same time Josie’s problems feel relatable.