• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

Young Amaya is auditioning for a role in a professional play. Although she longs to perform, she is about to learn how much team effort and hard work is involved.

As the reader follows her progress from a nervous hopeful at an audition through the fittings for costumes, the rehearsals, the memory work, and even stage fright, Dirk McLean introduces the many people and jobs involved in staging a play. A glossary provides descriptions of terms like casting, choreography, and blocking. Written by an author with extensive firsthand theater experience, this is a must-have resource for young children who are performers. And for those who only dream of a career on stage, it is entertaining to share Amaya's journey and to feel the thrill of a peek behind the scenes.

DIRK McLEAN is the author of children's picture books, the Lorimer Sports Stories novel Not Out, and Team Fugee. He has also written radio drama and stage plays which have toured southern Ontario elementary schools. Dirk was born in Trinidad & Tobago and now lives in Toronto.

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