By Taylor Leigh, age 11
Central Middle School, Edgewater, Md.
The Rising Star of Rusty Nail stars 10-year-old Franny Hansen, a piano prodigy. Franny’s best friend is named Sandy. Sandy is constantly getting in trouble with the grumpy school principal, Mr. Moody. Franny and Sandy’s arch-enemy is named Nancy Orilee. Nancy’s family is wealthier than all of the other families in Rusty Nail, but is positively the least deserving. Sandy and Franny are both curious young girls looking for excitement in their lives, and because of this they get into some sticky situations.
One night, Mayor Reverend Jerry tells the town’s hair stylist that there is going to be a special visitor in the town who will be listening to Franny and Nancy play the piano. Franny gets extremely excited when she hears of the competition that will be going on in honor of the guest.
After that guest leaves, the town gets another great surprise. They find out that their old friend Charlie, a very successful lawyer who used to live in Rusty Nail, will be coming home to stay. The town is even more shocked to find out that he is not coming home alone, but he is bringing a woman with him. She is not just an ordinary woman. She’s a Russian, and the townspeople think she is a communist! The so-called commie goes through some pretty odd things in this story.
This book is extremely interesting. I would recommend this book for sixth or seventh graders looking for a book that they will never want to put down. I like this book because the author, Lesley M. Blume, does a great job of describing everything. My advice is to pay attention to the small details and to keep going because everything will make sense at the end of the book. You should definitely read the Epilogue because it reveals a twist that you do not want to miss.
I give The Rising Star of Rusty Nail four out of four stars. Read The Rising Star of Rusty Nail today to find out why I think it is so good.
BOOK: The Rising Star of Rusty Nail AUTHOR: Lesley M. Blume PUBLISHER: Random House Children’s Books (2007), hardcover, 270 pages READING LEVEL: Ages 8 to 12 PRICE: $15.99 INFORMATION: randomhouse.com/kids
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