Three out of four…
Some things you don’t even dream about. Getting starred reviews in all four of the major library journals in the US is one of those things. So when Dream on Amber tiptoed shyly into America last year and got starred reviews in all four of them – Kirkus, Booklist, School Library Journal (SLJ) and Publisher’s Weekly – you could have floored me with the breath it takes to blow out a birthday candle.
I didn’t expect that for Dara Palmer’s Major Drama. I just didn’t. Dara Palmer doesn’t tiptoe anywhere, by the way: when she arrives, she does it by leaping with both feet, landing with her arms stretched wide and shouting, ta-dahhhh!
But over the last two weeks, Dara has received starred reviews first from Kirkus, then School Library Journal, then Publisher’s Weekly.
OMG.
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!
- Go to YouTube.
- Search for Roberto Benigni Oscar acceptance speech (I tried to embed it here but I couldn’t). I promise you – it’ll brighten up your day, whatever day you’re having.
- See Roberto when they call his name out? That’s me right now. That’d be Dara if she ever got an Oscar as well – in her red tutu and her silver shoes.
Only Booklist to go (drum roll).
What? Of course I’m not hiding under the table, biting my fingernails nervously – I’m just … looking for a lost … um…cereal flake.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to my parents “for giving me the greatest gift – poverty” (classic line!), to Chicken House, Allison Hellegers, Aubrey Poole, Alex Yeadon and the team at Sourcebooks, and to the reviewers at Kirkus, SLJ and PW.
This Oscar is for you.
Emma Shevah 