Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen
(Daring Darleen #1)

Just like Darleen—a spunky blend of darling and daring.

In 1914 New Jersey, Daring Darleen, 12-year-old star of silent film adventure serials, makes the same promise to her dear Papa each day before going to work at the family's Fort Lee film studios: "Feet on the ground." It's become a family motto since Darleen's tightrope walker mother died, but following a dangerous moment of high-altitude filming in the Palisades, Darleen feels full of life, a development that alternately thrills and horrifies her. She doesn't have much time to ponder that dichotomy, however; to capitalize on a Manhattan theater's opening night and wipe out the filmmaking family's debts, Darleen becomes embroiled in a publicity stunt. But the scheme--a phony kidnapping--goes somewhat awry when she is actually taken alongside Victorine Berryman, a newly orphaned heiress. The two very different girls work together to stay one step ahead of their kidnappers as real life begins to resemble a photoplay, complete with a runaway hot air balloon and dastardly villains. Film studies professor Nesbet writes her intrepid heroine with swashbuckling verve and sweet familial affection, incorporating extensive knowledge of early-20th-century filmmaking into a well-paced, gripping tale of staying true to oneself while stretching limitations. An author's note offers further historical context. Ages 8-12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. (Apr.)

Gr 4-6--Nesbet's new novel has all of the elements of classic old-fashioned adventure tales. Set in 1914, the fast-paced story centers on a motherless 12-year-old star of a silent weekly photoplay and includes a case of mistaken identity, dastardly villains, and shady characters. Darleen, who as a young child was known as Darling Darleen, is now Daring Darleen, a role that allows her to dangle from cliffs and jump between trains. But when Aunt Shirley, the manager of Matchless, the struggling film company behind Darleen's show, comes up with a fake kidnapping scheme to attract attention to the series, things get complicated. The kidnapping plot goes spectacularly wrong, and what was supposed to be a publicity stunt becomes all too real. Thanks to the bumbling kidnappers, Darleen finds herself sharing the backseat of the getaway car with Victorine Berryman, the orphaned young heiress to a railroad empire. The two girls, who become fast friends, escape together and go through a series of escapades that begin to resemble episodes of Darleen's photoplays. Darleen is resourceful and smart. It's her quick thinking, and the support of her new friends, that help save Matchless and Victorine's fortune. Bonuses include learning some behind-the-scenes tricks of the silent film days, the importance of Fort Lee, NJ, in early filmmaking, and a cameo by Alice Guy Manche, the pioneering French filmmaker. VERDICT A rollicking vintage adventure. Recommend to movie fans and readers who enjoy escapades of the past, with lots of twists and tangles.--Shelley Sommer, Inly School, Scituate, MA