Cut the Lights by Karen Krossing

Pages: 129
Intended Audience: Reluctant readers
Genre: Real life
Notes for Parents: Nothing to worry about.

The Back Cover
Briar may have a vision for the one-act play she’s been chosen to direct at her performing arts high school, but nobody seems to share it. Not her cast, not her crew, not even her best friend, who wrote the play. As Briar struggles to motivate her cast and crew, she learns some important truths about the fine art of directing – and about herself.

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

The book is part of Orca Limelights, a series of performing arts novels for reluctant readers. Each book focuses on one performing art, such as music, theater, dance, circus, slam poetry, magic or stand-up comedy.

What’s good?

Set in a performing arts high school, the story centers on Briar, a likeable, albeit rigid student set to direct a play for the first time. She’s excited and ambitious, but impatient when her cast and crew don’t see things her way. This is an engaging story about the importance of good leadership skills, cooperation, compassion, and compromise. The plot is simple, but uplifting, with some nice twists. The chapters are short and easy to read. The author uses many technical terms but it’s not overpowering and most are easy to figure out. The story touches lightly on some serious issues, but doesn’t make light of them.
Best Part: the stage directions.

What isn’t good?

As with most Orca books geared to reluctant readers, the story is fairly predictable and there is not a lot of depth to the characters. Solutions come relatively easy and there is, of course, a happy ending.
Worst part:  the predictability.

Recommendation þþþþo

I enjoyed it! Orca books for reluctant readers are very easy to read, but often they’re superficial and predictable, making them difficult to truly enjoy. While Cut the Lights had several of the expected flaws of a book geared toward reluctant readers, I still found it interesting and entertaining. Recommended.

Krossing, Karen. Cut the Lights. Victoria, BC: Orca Book Publishers, 2013.