The Fizzy Whiz Kid - Hardcover

Williams, Maiya

3.66

70 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810983478 ISBN 13: 9780810983472

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2010

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Readers will laugh along with all the misadventures—and sneak a peek behind the Hollywood curtain—in this sweet and funny novel.
When Mitchell Mathis moves to Hollywood with his academic parents, he soon realizes he’s the only ordinary kid in a school of the powerful and famous. There’s Skywalker Wong, whose parents are special effects gurus. And Julia Jodie Schwartz, named after her agent father’s two highest-earning clients. And Dash Silverman, whose parents write the movies that everyone else seems to have memorized. In an attempt to feel like less of an outsider, Mitch goes to an open casting call, where he ends up being cast in a soda commercial that launches a popular catchphrase. Suddenly he’s on TV, signing autographs, and riding in limos. But when the ad starts getting negative attention and he doesn’t have time for his old friends and interests, fame doesn’t seem like so much fun anymore. He’ll need all his “acting” skills—and the help of his Hollywood-savvy classmates—to figure out how to go back to being a normal kid again. Praise for the work of Maiya Williams

BookSense Pick
International Reading Association Intermediate Fiction Award
Southern California Booksellers’ Association Children’s Book Prize

“The fast-paced plot and smooth transition from everyday life to fantasy adventure make this a good choice for reluctant readers.” —School Library Journal

“Fast-paced historical hi-jinks . . .” —VOYA

“Vivid . . . deftly combines fantasy and historical fiction . . . It’s a trip well worth the time.” —New York Times Book Review

“Action-packed and laden with good-natured humor, Williams’s tale is a journey worth taking.” —Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Fizzy Whiz Kid

"Seriously committed film industry wannabes as well as erstwhile daydreamers will find a lot of good information here about how Hollywood magic gets made.”

—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

“Williams’ breezy tale is as addictive and bubbly as a Fizzy Whiz itself, and her experience in the entertainment industry packs real value into her descriptions of auditions, movie sets, and agent negotiations.”

—Booklist

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About the Author:

Maiya Williams was born in Corvallis, Oregon, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and Berkeley, California. She attended Harvard University, where she was an editor and vice president of the Harvard Lampoon. She is a writer and a producer of televisions shows and lives with her husband and their three children, a Labrador retriever, and a variety of fish in Pacific Palisades, California.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4–6—Sixth-grader Mitch Mathis, whose professor father studies cockroaches, is the new kid in a town called Hollywood. Everyone he meets seems to be involved in show business, but Mitch doesn't know much about TV or movies. Still, to fit in he tries his luck in a talent search and auditions for Fizzy Whiz Soda. When he is hired to do a series of comic commercials, Mitch finds that he enjoys the filming, the crew, and the animals that appear with him. In classic Hollywood rise-and-fall fashion, the star neglects his friends, only to be jolted awake to the value of his previous life. A government study on junk food places Fizzy Whiz at the top of the list of products with heavy sugar concentrations. As the face of Fizzy Whiz, Mitch is now all over TV, but not the way he envisioned. How he gets out of the commercials and what he does next make for a satisfying conclusion. An entertaining read.—Terrie Dorio, Santa Monica Public Library, CA
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