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My Life on TV
Summary
The Fame Game
My Life on TV
by Kimberly Greene
- The fantastically funny third book, starring straight-talking, super-klutzy Sam.
- Celebrities and reality TV are the hottest of topics and down-to-earth Sam tells it all, in hilarious style, from the glamour and backstabbing, to the truth behind the scenes.
Hi, I’m Sam, welcome to my blog! Listen up, I’m gonna be starring in my own TV show! Freaky right? Life in the limelight is not for me, but things are kinda strange right now. My sister’s quit being a pop princess so I’ve got to look after the family. I’m cool with that, but I’m not cool with my co-star. He’s pretending to like me for the paparazzi, but it’s one great big act. And guess what – I’m dealing with my first major crush. There’s a boy I badly want to kiss and when that first kiss happens it just has to be special…
“Brimming with gossip, glamour and gorgeous guys.”
Lancashire Evening Post
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Kimberly Greene
Kimberly Greene has toured the world as a singer, dancer, actor and director, performing for audiences on stage, in concert halls, and even in the Vatican City for the Pope. She now teaches and runs her own company, promoting an empowering blend of entertainment and technology in education. Kimberly lives in California where her rare free moments are spent walking her two dogs or chasing after her two cats. "My Sister's a Pop Star" is her first novel.
Read an extract
MY LIFE ON TV
Sam bit down hard on her lip and held her breath as Danni’s fingers began strumming the guitar. After listening for a minute she was stunned to realize that Danni’s playing sounded good – really good! Wow, she thought, Danni’s doing great! This sounds hot! How did Danni get so much better since I last heard her? She relaxed and settled back to enjoy the performance.
At first, Danni stood pretty still while singing and playing, but by the middle of the song, with the audience clapping, singing along and swaying in time to the music, she began to bounce a little. As she sang the chorus over and over, signalling the end of the song was drawing near, she even began to rock out – leaning to the left and the right. This was making for a seriously great guitar-playing debut, until she got carried away and the guitar accidentally hit the mike stand. It wobbled several times before falling over. The thud of the mike hitting the floor was loud, so loud that it spooked everyone – including Danni. She jumped back and threw her hands up to cover her ears.
That move alone was embarrassing, but the truly terrible part was that even though Danni was totally frozen in shock by what had just happened, the sound of guitar playing continued blaring out over the speakers. Sam was confused; if Danni’s hands weren’t on the guitar any more, why was the sound of it still coming over the speakers? Then it hit her like a splash of icy water: Danni had been faking! She hadn’t been playing the guitar at all! That little nod to Robert must have been a signal to turn on the music so she could act as if she was playing while she sang!
The audience was silent. They, too, took a couple of moments to figure out exactly what was going on.
A couple of people booed, some people laughed, but mostly everyone just stared at Danni – waiting to see how she’d deal with the situation.
Danni put her hands over her face and began to cry. The background guitar music finally stopped; the atmosphere was painfully quiet as everyone watched and waited. Sam, knowing how humiliating this had to be for her sister, was dazed and immobile; if anyone had tapped her on the shoulder she’d have gone straight down like a tree in a forest. Danni would never pull a stunt like this! How could it have happened?
Rose hurried onto the stage, put her arm around her daughter, and whispered something into her ear. Danni shook her head and stepped away from her mom. She grabbed the fallen mike, stood it back up, and swallowed hard before speaking.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she said through her tears. “I shouldn’t have…this was wrong…I’m more sorry than you’ll ever know. You have every right to be disappointed in me. I was so desperate not to disappoint someone,” she looked at Rowan, “that I made a terrible decision. Please forgive me.”
There was a mixture of “it’s okay”, “we forgive you” and boos and jeers coming from the audience. Danni waved her hands to get everyone to quieten down. “Please,” she begged. “I...I...” Danni put her hand to her heart as if to keep it from jumping out of her body, “I think I need to tell you all that I can’t do this any more.” Danni looked up at Rose. “I’m sorry, Mom, I have to say this.” She looked back out over the audience. “I’m officially announcing the end of my pop career. I’m hanging up my microphone and retiring.”
Press & Blog Reviews
This novel is the sequel to My Sister's a Pop Star, but I think you could read this book on it's own, too. It was an extremely brilliant novel and was a cute, lighthearted read for anyone who wants a break from serious, older teen books. It dealt with friendship, crushes and family life, and was a nice quick read.
Milelong Bookshelf Blog
I am so totally glad there was a sequel to "My Sisters a Popstar", and it was just as good! I read this in 3 hours, I was so into it. I really wanted to find out what happened with Sam, her crush, her super jerky co-star, and I was always looking forward to reading Sam's blog. "Packed with fun, fame, and fiasco..." girl talk were definitely right about that!
Kimberly always leaves you wanting more, and now I can't have more. That is how great the book actually is! Its inpiring, cool, funky, and to say the least, addicting!
The Beaucoup Preview book blog
Thirteen-year-old Sam is thoughtful and someone that young girls will warm to.I guess that most young girls hanker after the celebrity lifestyle at some point in their lives, but this book won’t encourage them in their ambitions. Being a TV star isn’t an easy life – in fact it’s hard work and Sam soon realises that she’s not only got to work very hard, she’s got to lose all her freedom to do what she wants and she has to put her long-standing friendship with Olga at risk. She might have the trappings of celebrity, but she’s lost all the things which are important to her.She learns very quickly that not all of the people who inhabit that world are particularly pleasant. Her co-star, Seth, might look gorgeous, but he’s dishonest, self-centred and prepared to use anyone to get what he wants. It’s a good story and it puts the reality back into the reality show.
The Book Bag
My Life On TV does not contain the overtly Jewish theme of the preceding books in the series, but it retains Kimberly Greene's strong moral stance. Issues range from not miming to music while pretending to play live, to staying loyal to your friends when every zit on your face has become the property of the viewing public. Wholesome fare for the High School Musical fan aged 9-12.
Jewish Chronicle
Greene’s brilliant teenage books about celebrity life are brimming with gossip, glamour and gorgeous guys but also contain a few home truths about its pitfalls. Tears, tantrums and tons of fun...
Lancashire Evening Post
Full of tales of ‘boy trouble’ and the problems with fame, this is the story of a normal teenager surrounded by chaos and excitement.
Aldershot News and Mail
Reader Reviews
Do you agree or disagree with the reviews below? Why not write your own?
Brilliantly written novel!
This novel is the sequel to My Sister's a Pop Star, but I think you could read this book on its own, too. It was an extremely brilliant novel and was a cute, lighthearted read for anyone who wants a break from serious, older teen books. It dealt with friendship, crushes and family life, and was a nice quick read. My favourite character of this book was Olga (Sam's best friend) because even when they had arguments Olga was always there for Sam and helped her through tough times.
Amber Kirk, 19th April 2010
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