Lights, Camera, Disaster

January 1, 2018
Grades 5-7 Hester is a hot mess. An eighth-grader with executive function disorder, she just can't seem to get it together, despite the support of her family and her school counselor. Papers, her locker, and her schedule are impossibly hard to manage. She excels, though, at filming things, and her video camera seems like an extension of her arm and brain. When a tough English teacher threatens to hold her back, her parents take the camera away, and without it, Hester spirals further, finding herself distanced from friends and classmates. An encounter with an immigrant girl who lends her graphic novels, and the encouragement of a documentary filmmaker open new paths for her. A bit disjointed at times, the book will nevertheless hit home with readers who can empathize with Hester's disorganization. Things look up as Hester learns to play to her interests, and her film about her classmates strikes a chordmaking the point that kids are much more than their classwork and grades.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
A middle schooler struggles with executive function disorder in this thoughtful middle-grade novel.Hester loves filmmaking more than anything else. Not only is it her passion--she carries her video camera everywhere--but it also makes the most sense to her. Her executive function disorder makes traditional schoolwork difficult despite dedicated strategies at school and home. Luckily, her best friends, white Max and Indian-American Nev, have always been supportive and understanding. Hess loves collaborating with them on filmmaking projects, and she can't wait to show their spy film at the middle school talent show. However, she struggles to balance all of her commitments--in addition to difficult schoolwork and the trio's movie, she's working on an extra-credit film project. In serious danger of failing eighth grade and thus unable to participate in the talent show, Hess feels her world spinning further out of control. Ashamed and devastated, she finds solace and support in the kindness of a few teachers, her supportive parents, and a graphic novel-loving ELL student who wears a hijab and has emigrated from the Middle East. The book's hopeful finale is tidy and cliched but undeniably satisfying. Through Hester's thoughtful first-person narration, structured with "fast forward," "pause," and "resume play" asides, Dionne creates a flawed, lovable, sympathetic character who, thanks to her support network, is ultimately able to become "the director of [her] own story."Readers will root for and relate to Hester. (Fiction. 9-14)

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July 1, 2018
Avid movie-maker Hester struggles to manage her executive function disorder and is perilously close to failing eighth grade. With the support of friends, family, and teachers, Hester is able to direct her own life. Short film-script scenes are interspersed in the first-person narrative. Strong character development and the realistic depiction of EFD compensate for a predictable and issue-based plot.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)