Stars So Sweet

Written by Tara Dairman

Narrated by Kathleen McInerney

Joan Bauer meets Ruth Reichl in this charming middle grade foodie series.

As the summer winds down and Gladys Gatsby prepares to start middle school, she is nervous about juggling schoolwork and looming deadlines from her secret job as the New York Standard’s youngest restaurant critic. When her editor pushes for a face-to-face meeting to discuss more opportunities with the paper, Gladys knows she must finally come clean to her parents. But her perfectly planned reveal is put on hold when her parents arrive home with a surprise: her Aunt Lydia, one of the only adults who knows her secret, fresh off the plane from Paris.

Gladys and Aunt Lydia try one last ruse to fool her editor at the Standard, but even with her aunt’s help, Gladys just can’t manage the drama of middle school and a secret life. It’s time for Gladys to be true to herself and honest with her friends and family, regardless of what those around her think.

©2016 Tara Dairman (P)2016 Ideal Audiobooks

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ideal Audiobooks
• Release date: Oct 20, 2016
• ISBN: 9781942907275

Reviews for Stars So Sweet

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As with the other entries in the series, I'm rounding up a half star from my true opinion. I do think there's a lot of appeal and good values in these for kids. I found them to be repetitious & wordy and am glad I'm done. And I did have to keep telling myself "suspend disbelief; read it like a fairy tale." Very glad of the satisfying ending to the trilogy.

But there were random problems, too. Too much romance, imo, for 12 yo seventh-graders. A random snarky comment about Rolanda learning a lot about Shakespeare only because she joined Drama Club... but wait, isn't that how it's *supposed* to work? Gladys complaining because she "only" has three good friends bothered me, too.

I won't read on if Dairman decides to keep going, unless she completely changes the pov to that of Charissa, Parm, or Sandy.

ETA - I looked at some of the other reviews. The ppl who gave this few stars had a problem with one of the characters being revealed as lesbian. Um, lady, that girl is not the evil one; you are. And to think you're poisoning your children with that view. How very sad.