In Lisa Greenwald’s book Reel Life Starring Us, Dina is the new girl at Rockwood Hills Middle School. Rockwood Hills is known for its cliques and for Sasha Preston, the now famous movie star that used to attend the middle school. Dina soon learns that Rockwood Hills is not like her old school and that in this school you’re either in the in-crowd or, in Dina’s case, you’re not. When Dina gets assigned to work on a video project with Chelsea, the most popular girl in school, Dina can’t help but think that she will finally fit in. However, Dina soon realizes that Chelsea’s home life isn’t what you would expect for such a popular individual. Will the video project help these two become friends? Will Dina ever fit in? And most importantly, will anyone ever really be in the in crowd at Rockwood Hills Middle School?
As I read this book, I felt compassion for Dina as she entered Rockwood Hills. People weren’t very nice to her, and being a new student didn’t help her case. I also felt compassion for Chelsea, due to the situation in her home life and the struggle she goes through in order to keep it a secret. The setting played a major role in this book because Rockwood Hills is a very wealthy community and Dina and Chelsea are very different when it comes down to money. The plot in this book was slow at some points and made it hard to read through some of the pages. I felt like this book took awhile to get to the climax of the story, but the climax and the rising action left led to a well thought out ending. If you are looking for an easy read and a book about true friendship, Reel Life Starring Us would be the right choice.
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Springfield, Ohio USA
