Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: STARS SO SWEET by Tara Dairman

STARS SO SWEET by Tara Dairman (Putnam, July 2016)

I'm so happy to introduce the third book in Tara Dairman's All Four Stars series. Tara was snapped up by agent Ammi-Joan Paquette after the Baker's Dozen auction in 2011, and I loved both previous books in this series, which I reviewed HERE and HERE.
I'm delighted to have been able to enjoy another Gladys Gatsby adventure and to take part in this blog tour.

What It's About (via Goodreads): 
As the summer winds down and Gladys Gatsby prepares to start middle school, she is nervous about juggling schoolwork and looming deadlines from her secret job as the New York Standard’s youngest restaurant critic. When her editor pushes for a face-to-face meeting to discuss more opportunities with the paper, Gladys knows she must finally come clean to her parents. But her perfectly planned reveal is put on hold when her parents arrive home with a surprise:  her Aunt Lydia, one of the only adults who knows her secret, fresh off the plane from Paris. Gladys and Aunt Lydia try one last ruse to fool her editor at the Standard, but even with her aunt’s help, Gladys just can’t manage the drama of middle school and a secret life. It’s time for Gladys to be true to herself and honest with her friends and family, regardless of what those around her think.

Opening Lines:
"Gladys Gatsby felt like a live fish was flopping around in her stomach."


Why I Loved It:

1. The characters: Gladys is an endearing character. True to the middle grade experience, she worries about whether she fits in, about friendships, and about the journey to middle school. Yet she is loyal, level-headed, and creative. Tara Dairman does a good job with all her characters. Charissa, for example, could easily have been written as a stereotypical "mean girl," but instead we are shown a more rounded side to her. I also liked the fact that characters from the earlier novels were developed--Gladys' Aunt Lydia being a case in point.
2. The humor. Tara Dairman, for my money, is one of the funniest middle grade writers around. Her humor isn't the obvious, gross sort. Often times, it is situational. I'll never forget the "Gladys-under-the restaurant table" scene in All Four Stars, or the disastrous swim test in The Stars of Summer. In Stars So Sweet, there are deliciously comic moments when Gladys tries to wiggle out of meeting her editor in person. Chuckles abound!
3. The covers. All three books have had wonderful, memorable colors--by artist Kelly Murphy. Very eye-catching.

In conclusion, Stars So Sweet is a delightful addition to the Gladys canon. Hooray for Tara!

About The Author:

Tara Dairman is the author of the middle-grade ALL FOUR STARS series, the newest addition being Stars So Sweet. She is also a playwright and world-traveler. 

Tara holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College and is represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. You can find her online in the following places:

Website: https://taradairman.com/  Facebook  Twitter

Over at Project Mayhem today, featuring Tara Dairman's THE STARS OF SUMMER

Blog Tour button designed by Kristin Rae

I've been neglecting Middle Grade Mafioso horribly--mainly because I'm currently querying agents as well as cracking the whip as blog manager over at Project Mayhem.

Speaking of which, Project Mayhem is last stop on Tara Dairman's The Stars of Summer Blog Tour. 

As I say in my review, it's hard to get a grizzled old Middle Grade Mafioso to laugh. (Tears are a different story. I'm getting much more lachrymose in my old age, when I think of the vicissitudes of life.) But reading The Stars of Summer, I laughed a lot. Knowing, as I do, how much kids this age are into cooking shows, I'm betting that Tara has another hit on her hands.

If you're so inclined today, hop on over to the Project to say Hi! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Here in Mafioso land, we hope you have all been enjoying the "holiday season" and the first few days of the New Year. (The Don and I are actually scratching our heads because, when you are as old as the two of us, you can still remember all the hoopla about Y2K and tend to say things like "was that really 15 years ago?)

But que sera, sera. We are excited for the kids (in the Don's case, the grandkids) to go back to school so that we can have a couple of hours a day dedicated to bringing you all things middle grade. We're excited about all of the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday books we hope to feature during the next couple of months--and, being betting men, we are particularly eager to see how the Cybils awards play out.

The Cybils shortlists were announced on New Year's Day, and boy oh boy did they start 2015 off with a bang! I was particularly pleased to see my friend Tara Dairman's novel, ALL FOUR STARS, make the list, as well as Megan Jean Sovern's THE MEANING OF MAGGIE, which I reviewed in May of 2014.

Lots of good books to read! I look forward to visiting blogs old and new this year, and continuing to make meaningful connections with those who love middle grade fiction.

Avanti!

Nosy Mafioso Wants to Know...

Photo by Yunhee Kim

Shame and guilt have filled the Mafioso compound at the continuing silence at this blog, and the Don has decreed that we cannot remain dark a minute longer. (He gives me no credit for all my back-breaking labor at Project Mayhem, or my own writing, or my having read six middle grade novels in the last two weeks, but not yet sending questionnaires to the writers to squeeze out every last drop of information...)

In order to mollify the man, I am nosing about in others' bedrooms. My mission? To uncover what is on your nightstand now. For the record, I have just finished The Meaning of Maggie by Megan Jean Sovern (Chronicle, May 2014) am about to plunge into the long-awaited ARC of my pal Tara Dairman's All Four Stars (Putnam/Penguin, July 2014) Can't Wait!

What is on your nightstand now? Do spill. (Photos a bonus!)