Broadway Lights

by Jen Calonita

Book Overview

Hollywood teen queen Kaitlin Burke packs up her entourage (showbiz family, friends, assistant, and publicist, but unfortunately not the dreamy boyfriend) and moves to the Big Apple for the summer for her Broadway debut. Kaitlin is the toast of the town and she hits the most exclusive New York nightspots, enjoys the best food (Hello, Magnolia Bakery ), and even guests as a celebrity host on Saturday Night Live. But New York isn't all cupcakes and virgin...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031603066X
• ISBN13: 9780316030663
• Release Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Poppy Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 5.5" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 11 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 10

Customer Reviews

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Kaitlyn's leaving for New York City and ready to make her Broadway debut. She's not happy about leaving her boyfriend behind for so long, but she's convinced they can make it. She's not ready for a costar who likes her and a jealous boyfriend. She and Austin keep missing phone calls and thus stop sharing details. Kaitlyn has enough on her mind trying to get ready for a live audience, a snarky costar, adjusting to a new city, and a media fight with two former friends. As Kaitlyn explores the city, she can't help but wonder why her relationship is falling apart. Nor can she help but question the future. There's a great pilot she read, but it might mean working with Sky again. With Sky, in the city for work, they've moved towards friendship. Could she risk it all by attempting to work with her again? All she knows is that she's not letting the future scare her anymore and she's ready to take back control of her life. I love this series: it's fun, flirty, and even though it's about Hollywood, Kaitlyn is a down-to-earth girl adjusting to life's curve balls. This fifth book in the series is next to last, and I can't wait to see how it wraps up. Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

best book ever!

i love this series and can`t wait for the next book as usual jen calonita totally deliverd this book is fun flirty and fabulas 5 stars

Great addition to a fun series

I am a huge fan of the Secrets of My Hollywood Life series and eagerly awaited the arrival of the fifth book. Broadway Lights is just as cute, fun, and sweet as its predecessors. Hollywood switches to New York for this installment (as you might guess from the title). Kaitlyn is starring in a Broadway play for the summer. Her entire world makes the move to NYC with her - Liz, her family, Nadine, Rodney, and even Sky. Lauren and Ava are continual crashers as well. The only missing character is Austin, who is at Lacrosse camp in Texas. The two struggle to keep their relationship going as obstacles come between them - bad phone skills; a cute Lacrosse girl; Kaitlyn's handsome co-star Dylan; etc. The Broadway scene matches the LA scene in cattiness, as Kaitlyn learns from her co-star Riley. The book follows the same plot formula as the entire series - Kaitlyn is a sweet, normal girl who goes through life trying to be the best she can be and please everyone while still having some backbone. She loves fashion and embraces the celebrity culture without becoming status-obsessed like her mom or conceited like her brother Matty. In some ways Kaitlyn never grows in these books, other than to rediscover that she's already a great person and just needs to stay true to herself. But she's such a likable character that I don't mind at all. She needs to stay the same more than she needs to change. On the other hand, Liz and Sky both grew as characters in this book. Broadway Lights also continues with the insider information about Hollywood and Broadway culture. I love learning "how things really work," whether it's true or not. The book also has lots of information about NYC, especially the cupcake shops. I get a kick out of the script excerpts from the play at the beginning of each chapter - mostly because it's so ridiculous - I can't imagine it being a Broadway production. My chief complaint about the series is the name-dropping of celebrities. I enjoy the detailed description of fashion and name brands; it's fun to hear about what people are wearing. But the name-dropping is rather silly - "my friend Miley...my friend Vanessa." Some is fine, but I got tired of it after awhile. More importantly, the name-dropping of celebrity and fashion brands dates the books. In five years, the celebrities and fashion will be old news. That's sad because the characters and basic plot are timeless. I'd hate to see the books disappear.