Show Stopper! by Shamini Flint

Ill. by Sally Heinrich. The Susie K Diaries. Allen and Unwin, 2019. ISBN: 9781760523701.
(Ages: 7-10) Recommended. Themes: Performances, Friendship, Life skills, Schools stories. A talent show is always a source of stress for most ordinary children, but for Susie K. it means coping with a mother who has entered Susie and truly believes she will be the show stopper and win the competition. The story follows Susie's attempts to find her one true talent with funny results. Susie K. shows great tenacity in this story to solve the problem caused by her lack of performance skills and not disappoint her mother at the same time.
Written in cartoon style with predominantly pictures and speech bubbles telling the story, younger readers will find this an easy read that maintains a good pace. It is a good introduction to the Graphic Novel genre for younger students but is not one that can be read aloud to the class because of its structure.
This is the third book in this series but because there is a brief introduction of the main character at the beginning of the book this means readers can pick up this book without reading the first two books in the series - Life of the Party and Game Changer. However, I suspect they will be keen to read the whole series as this is a very likeable character and the stories will appeal to this age level who really enjoy following a series.
Gabrielle Anderson