Lola Levine Drama Queen

Title: Lola Levine Drama Queen
Genre: Bluebonnet
Author: Monica Brown
Major Awards: 2017-2018 Texas Bluebonnet Award
Age Group: 2nd-4th grade

This is the story of second grader, Lola. Lola has a very big personality, and her parents often call her dramatic. They also compare her to her grandmother, her Bubbe, who has a larger-than-life personality and makes herself known to everyone around her with her loud mouth and gaudy clothing. One day, Lola's teacher explains to the class that they have a new teacher, Ms. Tinkle, who will be their drama teacher. When the class gets to Ms. Tinkle's class the first day, she explains to them that they will be auditioning for parts in an upcoming school play. She teaches them how to improv, mirror one another, and all the important aspects of acting. This excites Lola because she is dramatic, after all. The day comes for the students to audition, and when it is Lola's turn to audition, she completely freezes onstage and has to be escorted off. Lola gets very upset because she had her lines memorized perfectly, but got stage fright. The next day, the cast for the school play gets posted, and just as Lola expects, she gets the least important role. She gets "Squirrel #2", who has absolutely no lines and just sits the whole time. In her sadness, she decides to write to her Bubbe and tell her all about what happened. The next night, Lola gets a surprise: her Bubbe comes into town just to see her in the school play! Lola feels sad that her grandmother came into town to watch her in a play that she doesn't even have lines in, and Bubbe reassures Lola that every part is important, especially Lola's. When it comes time for the play, Lola gets another surprise: Squirrel #1 is sick and cannot make it, so she has been assigned his role, along with her existing role. Squirrel #1 has to speak, so Lola quickly memorizes his lines. As Lola is getting ready for her part, her costume's tail gets stuck on a metal pole and rips. Instead of freaking out, Lola improvises and keeps calm. Well, her Bubbe sees what happens, and comes running onstage, tossing her a peacock shawl, and Lola just acts like this is all a part of the play. In the end, her parents, friends, and Ms. Tinkle all run to Lola, praising her for her courageous deed, and Lola feels so proud of herself. 

This was such a cute story, and I would love to have it in my classroom one day! Lola definitely reminds me of Junie B. Jones with some of her antics, and I can see young students loving this story because of that! It also teaches the importance of perseverance and determination, and I think that those are two very important lessons for students to learn! 

I think that this book would be best for second through fourth grade. It is a super quick and simple read for a chapter book, and it also has some pictures in it, so I think it would be perfect starting in second grade! Lola is also in second grade herself, so I think that second graders would be able to relate to her. Because it is so simple, I think that past fourth grade students might become bored by it, but it is a sweet story nonetheless! 

In my classroom, I think it would be fun to compose our own play, and assign different roles to students in the class. I could also give them a worksheet where they would write about Lola's personality and character qualities, and what makes her special. I could also have them write about a time they were afraid, and what they did to overcome that fear. Maybe they got stage fright like Lola? I would be sure to tell them that they can do anything they put their mind to, and to not let fear stop them!