Lulu the Broadway Mouse

by Jenna Gavigan

Overview

Ratatouille meets Broadway in this charming new middle grade novel about a little mouse with big dreams.

Lulu is a little girl with a very big dream: she wants to be on Broadway. She wants it more than anything in the world. As it happens, she lives in Broadway's Shubert Theatre; so achieving her dream shouldn't be too tricky, right? Wrong. Because the thing about Lulu? She's a little girl mouse.

When a human girl named Jayne joins the cast of the show at the Shubert as an understudy, Lulu becomes Jayne's guide through the world of her theatre and its wonderfully kooky cast and crew. Together, Jayne and Lulu learn that sometimes dreams turn out differently than we imagined; sometimes they come with terms and conditions (aka the company mean girl, Amanda). But sometimes, just when we've given up all hope, bigger and better dreams than we'd ever thought could come true, do.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762464593
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	03/03/2020
Series:	Broadway Mouse Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jenna Gavigan, a fourth generation New Yorker, grew up dreaming of Broadway. At age sixteen she made her Broadway debut in Gypsy, opposite Bernadette Peters. Since then she's appeared in a half-dozen films, on more than a dozen television shows, and on east and west coast stages, and off-Broadway in the world premiere of Straight. Jenna graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Creative Writing, where she focused on fiction, television, and screenwriting. She lives in a teeny tiny Manhattan apartment with her husband, Kevin.

Editorial Reviews

"Jenna manages to capture the drama and tension and excitement of the theatre without ever losing the magic and joy of what it feels like to be on Broadway. Lulu's burning desire to be onstage was exactly how I felt when I was younger, and reading this book reawakened that feeling in me!"—-Tony nominee Jonathan Groff

"A wonderfully crafted and unfailingly entertaining read from beginning to end."—Midwest Book Review

While the book will be embraced by children (and adults) with a passion for theater, the lessons that are offered are universal and told in a way that all readers will embrace the joy that is both the heart of Lulu and Lulu the Broadway Mouse.—Times Beacon Record

This lightsome fantasy and valentine to Broadway theater puts readers amid backstage hustle and bustle. A performer herself, author Jenna Gavigan knows the scene so well, you can practically smell the greasepaint.—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Preteens who are star-struck for Broadway will enjoy the drama."—Kirkus Reviews

"Jenna Gavigan is a true Broadway baby whose backstage debut novel will delight theater kids of all ages (and species)!"——Tim Federle, author of Better Nate than Ever

"A standing ovation for Lulu! This delightful debut serves up a sweet and sassy mouse's-eye view of life in the footlights from a real Broadway insider. Encore, please?"
—Heather Vogel Frederick, author of the Spy Mice, the Mother-Daughter Book Club, and the Pumpkin Falls Mystery series

From the Publisher

Actress—and now children’s author—Jenna Gavigan brings youthful energy to her animal and human characters, especially Lucy Louise, the chatty, precocious first-person protagonist. Lulu is a mouse who lives at the Shubert Theatre in New York City and dreams of starring on Broadway. It seems unlikely, but humans accept her without question. She spends as much time as possible assisting the crew and performers backstage, and when a kind, new understudy named Jayne arrives, she and Lulu become fast friends. Lulu helps Jayne overcome her stage fright; handle difficulties with the mean girl child actor, Amanda; and achieve Broadway debuts for them both. Kids with their own Broadway dreams will love Lulu’s enthusiasm and insider knowledge of the theater world. S.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile

Actress—and now children’s author—Jenna Gavigan brings youthful energy to her animal and human characters, especially Lucy Louise, the chatty, precocious first-person protagonist. Lulu is a mouse who lives at the Shubert Theatre in New York City and dreams of starring on Broadway. It seems unlikely, but humans accept her without question. She spends as much time as possible assisting the crew and performers backstage, and when a kind, new understudy named Jayne arrives, she and Lulu become fast friends. Lulu helps Jayne overcome her stage fright; handle difficulties with the mean girl child actor, Amanda; and achieve Broadway debuts for them both. Kids with their own Broadway dreams will love Lulu’s enthusiasm and insider knowledge of the theater world. S.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile

2018-07-16
Lulu's dreams are big for a little mouse: starring on Broadway.Lulu lives in the very best house, the Schubert Theatre, on West 44th Street. Her passion is to perform on stage. In a first-person narrative, the little mouse interacts with and assists the cast and crew backstage. Her ability to speak English and her full acceptance despite her rodent nature are givens. The drama of the story revolves around a self-centered child performer, who rarely misses a performance and whom Lulu does not like because she is full of "Sugarcoated meanness," and the very friendly understudy who decides to chuck it all and go home to New Jersey. Can the new understudy overcome her stage fright? Spoiler alert: Dreams can come true for performers of all sizes. Lulu writes with a very chatty, insider's point of view (the author made her debut on Broadway in Gypsy with Bernadette Peters and author Tim Federle) and tosses out references to Broadway luminaries such as Stephen Sondheim and Elaine Stritch along with shows such as Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver!, and Wicked. Cast and crew default to white, with one Italian-American and one guy who "dates men" but flirts with women singled out. Gavigan concludes her tale with a list of recommendations about New York City, proper theater behavior, and how to live your own theatrical dream.Preteens who are star-struck for Broadway will enjoy the drama. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews