K, so. I wasn't sure about this book at first, but within ten to fifteen minutes I was hooked. The writing is really good and grabbed me. I was invested in the characters and I enjoyed the read. It was really well done. 4/5 stars.

Fun! Reads like an old-fashioned movie serial. Set in 1914, when movies were very young and silent only. Darleen Darling, 12, has been a movie star for a few years, acting in films her family's studio produces. She does all the action, hanging off cliffs, tied to railroad tracks, etc. When her staged kidnapping--to drum up publicity for the studio--goes haywire and she's kidnapped FOR REAL, along with an heiress girl her age, the action ramps up off the screen too. It's really cute, the girls gain self-confidence and form a friendship as they try to outfox the shifty relatives who want a ransom for the heiress girl, who happens to look a lot like Darleen. Great look at the early history of silent moviemaking, when movies were still made in New Jersey and not in Hollywood California. ( )

Darleen is a film reel actress in 1910s New York/New Jersey. In order to drum up interest in her latest reel, Darleen’s aunt & uncle (who are also her managers) come up with a plan to fake her kidnapping. But things go awry when Darleen is picked up in a REAL kidnapping of a young heiress who looks exactly like her. Can Darleen use the skills she’s honed as an action movie actress to save the day?
This book did not really speak to me, I think possibly because early film is not something I’m particularly interested in. The bulk of the book was perfectly fine, but Darleen’s manager aunt and uncle are very abusive, and her co-star tried to actually kill her during filming several times, and no one seemed to really care. There’s also a through-line of Darleen recalling her late mother warning her not to “fly away”, without any explanation of what that is supposed to mean. The book isn’t objectionable but not as enjoyable or engaging as the previous Nesbet book I read, The Orphan Band of Springdale ( )

A charming and delightful YA novel, set during a historical period that is often neglected. Here, we see the early days of silent cinema through the eyes of a young actress, who finds the plot of her films coming to life around her. The author has clearly done her research about the period, and uses it as a backdrop without dwelling on it too much. I also appreciated that the focus of the book was not on romance, but rather friendship and familial love.

I'm looking forward to my daughter getting old enough to read this book for herself, and I'll be on the lookout for more adventures with the same characters. ( )