Jennifer Lawrence. (Superstars!) Molly Aloian. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2013. 32 pp., pbk. & hc., $9.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-8056-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-8051-9 (RLB). Subject Headings: Lawrence, Jennifer, 1990- -Juvenile literature. Actors-United States-Biography-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-6 / Ages 8-11. Review by Suzanne Pierson. *** /4

excerpt:

Let the Games Begin

In 2011, Jennifer Lawrence was well on her way to becoming a superstar. Little did she know that things were about to get crazy. Jennifer was offered the role that would be a total game changer – the part of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. The movie would also star Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, and Donald Sutherland.

The strength of Jennifer Lawrence is the fact that this biography is about a well-known living person. The weakness of the book is that the information is going to go out of date very quickly. Buy it in paperback.

      The information in this book is well laid out in clear text with many colourful photos showing Lawrence in many of her different television and movie roles and in several publicity photos.

      Jennifer Lawrence, like the other books in the "Superstars!" series, provides readers with the basic biographical information about Lawrence and how she got started in show business. The rest of the book goes through her accomplishments on her way to becoming a superstar. The book ends with a look ahead to what may be in Lawrence's future. She would like to direct someday. The final section is a timeline starting at her birth and listing highlights and accomplishments up to 2014. Considering that the publication date is 2013, the publishers are pushing the envelope a bit here, presumably aware of how quickly the information in the book will be superseded by more up-to-date material.

      Also included is a table of contents, simple glossary, a list of books and websites for those who want to find out more, and an index. One feature that I like is the explanation on the Contents page that "Words that are defined in the glossary are in bold type the first time they appear in the text". For young readers not yet familiar with this convention, this is a clear explanation, and for others it is a good reminder.

      Although most of the Grade 3-6 students for which this book is written will not have read The Hunger Games, the hype around the books and movie(s) is so high, it is worth purchasing this book in paperback. It will also work well for high interest material for reluctant readers and may engage some English as a second language readers.

Recommended.

Suzanne Pierson, a retired teacher-librarian, is currently instructing Librarianship courses at Queen's University in Kingston, ON.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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