Shailene Woodley. (Superstars). Rebecca Sjonger. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015. 32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $9.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB). ISBN 978-0-7787-8085-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-8081-6 (RLB), ISBN 978-1-4271-9987-4 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-9983-6 (html). Subject Headings: Woodley, Shailene-Juvenile literature. Motion picture actors and actresses-United States-Biography-Juvenile literature. Television actors and actresses-United States-Biography-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-7 / Ages 8-12. Review by Tanya Boudreau. *** /4

excerpt:

Shailene first became known to millions of teenagers as Amy Juergens in the teen TV drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager. After five successful seasons, Shailene decided to focus on acting in movies. Her first major film role playing George Clooney’s daughter in The Descendants proved to be her breakout performance. Once she got her foot in the door to Hollywood, she kicked it wide open- in her quiet, zen sort of way.

This nonfiction book in the “Superstars” series contains four short chapters about the actress Shailene Woodley (Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars). She moved from commercials and TV to the big screen with The Descendants but when she’s in the spotlight, she enjoys talking about her hobbies. She is an herbalist and a survivalist. Photographs show her in casual dress and with her mom, with whom she started the charity, All It Takes. In the chapter entitled “Not-So-Secret Strife”, the author tells how Shailene had to wear a brace on her back, and how she really felt about working on The Secret Life of an American Teenager. Fans will learn about the 10 minute long music video in which she appeared and how she conjures up fear for a movie role. There is a brief mention of her friendship with Kate Winslet, the decision she made to cut her hair, and how she believes in maintaining some sense of privacy without excluding her fans. Interesting facts focus on her love of cooking and the people she hopes to work with one day. Compared to some of the other books in the series, this one has a picture of her on all the pages but one. They are labeled and often appear above her quotes which are dated and referenced. The bibliography contains two books and four websites about the actress, and the timeline is broken into 15 dates (1991-2014). I think this book will be taken out by new and established pop culture fans because of the familiar name and eye-catching cover.

Recommended.

Tanya Boudreau is a librarian at the Cold Lake Public Library in Cold Lake, AB.

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