Guest Review: Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen by Donna Gephart

Title: Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen
Author: Donna Gephart
Series: Stands Alone
Publisher: Delacourt Books for Young Readers
Released: March 13, 2012
Website: http://donnagephart.blogspot.com

Summary:

Olivia Bean knows trivia. She watches Jeopardy! every night and usually beats at least one of the contestants. If she were better at geography, she would try out for the show’s kids’ week. Not only could she win bundles of money, she’d get to go to the taping in California, where her dad, who left two years ago and who Olivia misses like crazy, lives with his new family.
 
One day Olivia’s friend-turned-nemesis, Tucker, offers to help her bulk up her geography knowledge. Before Olivia knows it, she’s getting help from all sorts of unexpected sources: her almost-stepdad, superannoying Neil; her genius little brother, Charlie; even her stressed-out mom. Soon she has breezed through the audition rounds and is headed for Hollywood! But will the one person she wants to impress more than anyone else show up to support her?

Guest Review for Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen by Donna Gephart

Hello everyone!

I am SO excited to be a guest blogger on Kathy’s blog, I am a Reader, Not a Writer!  I’ve been reading Kathy’s posts for over a year now, and just love it!

Anyway, my name is Mandy, and I run a small blog called The Romance Bookie (http://romancebookie.blogspot.com/).  I’ve been blogging over almost two years now (in November!), and have been loving every minute!

So today, for my guest review I’ve decided to talk about Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen by Donna Gephart, which is the story of Olivia Bean, a twelve year old girl who loves watching Jeopardy. She never misses a show, and sits in front of the TV every single night from 7:30 until 8:00! And let me just tell you this: You DO NOT want to disturb this girl!!

Olivia Bean is the Queen of Jeopardy trivia.  There is only one thing stopping her from following her dreams of being on Kid's Week (a once a year event featured on Jeopardy): Geography.  Olivia can't stand geography! It's her worst subject.  And to make matters worse she has her annoying neighbor, Tucker Thomas, making fun of her for it! (Plus there is that whole unfortunate Hula-Hoop instance, that happened two years ago, but let's not get into that...). 

While Tucker is going around calling her, Olivia-Hula-Hoop-Queen, Olivia is trying to ignore him and do everything possible to get on Jeopardy before her last year runs out.  12 is the cut off, and Olivia is at her last straw.

My thoughts:

What I loved about this book was the message behind it!  Never give up on your dreams! I’m a total sucker for that saying! 

Olivia never gave up her dream of being on Jeopardy, even when a lot of obstacles were being put in her way.  Her father, her mother’s job loss, her little brother, and even her annoying neighbor...well, actually personally, I didn’t find her neighbor all that annoying...he sure helped her a lot!

Anyway, I highly recommend this one to the younger readers, probably between the ages of 10 and up...possibly 12 and up, just because it does deal with quite some dark subjects...such as divorce, infidelity, and the issues of growing up. 

A book with a great main character, great message, and dealing with some serious issues that children deal with every day!

I give it 4 and a half stars! :)

Thanks Kathy for having me!

The Romance Bookie