Jenna's mother has always been freakishly overprotective. So, when a movie crew shows up at school to hold auditions and tells Jenna she has the part solely due to her presence, well... on hindsight maybe she shouldn't have fallen for it, but she wanted an adventure, she wanted to be special, so she went with the movie crew to Scandia. Once she gets there, she finds out her final audition is to stand-in for the Scandian Princess, who wants some time to herself. It takes awhile for Jenna to discover what the reader has known all along--the Scandian Princess has run away and the Regent needs someone for the cameras to help get some controversial legislation accepted by the people of South Scandia. Legislation that spells doom for the people from North Scandia.
There are several plot lines running through this middle grade political thriller with frequent shifts of point of view as different pieces come to light. There are several things adult readers will figure out very quickly and there are several things the readers get to see way before most of the characters do. That said, I think this one will keep most middle grade readers guessing, especially when it comes to who Jenna can trust and who she can't. I most enjoyed the conflict Boie builds between the two groups of North and South Scandia that parallels situations in several countries today. Boie gives middle grade readers a lot more credit than many authors do, and I love her for it. Better yet, lots of court and political intrigue, all while still being a fun and entertaining read.
Book Provided by... my local library
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