I'm not a huge fan of kids lying in books in general especially when the parents won't support their kids and that's why because it just feels unhealthy from both sides, so I was already not loving this book, and it kind of stayed mediocre for me.

How can I ignore a book with a title like this? Here are my pros and cons for The Nerviest Girl in the World:

Pros
1. The title and the cover immediately caught my eye while perusing NetGalley one day. The title is unique and intriguing and the cover is colorful and fun.
2. Pearl is a hoot! She is full of sass and verve and I think young readers will love her from page one!
3. I loved the family dynamic in the book. The relationships between Pearl, her older brothers, her parents, and her grandmother were realistic and often heartfelt. I think young readers will definitely connect to Pearl and her family life.
4. If you have a child interested in movie-making this book is definitely for them! The book is chock full of details about early movie making techniques! Readers will learn about moving picture vocabulary and technology from the time (early 20th century) and how films were shot. You will even learn about silent movie “over-acting” and makeup and how much actors were paid back then. Nothing gets super technical, but I thought it was a really great introduction to the old silent films. As a matter of fact, I’d recommend finding and old western silent movie to watch with your children after they read the book so they can see firsthand the things they read about in this book!
5. I enjoyed the addition of the ostriches in the story, particularly about ostrich eggs and feathers and how they are used. It was also entertaining how Pearl describes them in the book. Ostriches are definitely ornery critters! I had the pleasure of visiting Ostrichland USA in Solvang, California many years ago. Visitors are allowed to feed the birds from cups. Interesting to me at the time, the cups came with really long handles on them. That was so you could keep a safe distance from the ostriches because they would definitely peck you if you got too close! Feeding them was fun but somewhat stressful at the same time! I’m not sure I would want to get as close to an ostrich as Pearl does in the book! They are amazing creatures… just not cuddly sweet ones!
6. There is a jealousy issue that springs up between Pearl and another girl, but it is resolved nicely in the story.
7. There are some fun illustrations sprinkled throughout the book that are humorous and silly.
8. One of the neatest things about this book is that it was inspired by a real-life Pearl – Pearl White. The author includes some information about Pearl White in her Author’s Note at the end of the book, but you can go to Wikipedia if you would like to read more about Pearl White now.

Cons

1. I felt like the book was just a tad repetitive from time to time, but I don’t think young readers will have an issue with it and it didn’t impact my overall enjoyment of the story.

Summary

This book is simply fun. It is a great introduction to early 1900s farm life, silent movie making, movie stunts, horseback riding, and ostrich farming… and it is funny and entertaining as well! I do encourage you to read the Author’s Note at the end of the book because it is chock full of details about the people and the film company that inspired the story.

This book is recommended for readers from Grade 4 to Grade 7 (according to Amazon)… but I’m more than three decades removed from Grade 7 and I enjoyed it immensely. I’d recommend this book to anyone.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Knopf Books for Young Readers for a free eARC of this book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title!

We just wrapped this up as a read aloud and enjoyed every single second. Such a fun book that led us down many rabbit trails researching and learning about the time period and the history of moving pictures!

I immediately ordered a hard copy for our shelves and will be gifting it the holiday season!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."
I was thrilled to receive this book. I always love the Brave Writer book recommendations, and Melissa is part of the team. My daughter is reading the next level of books, but we still wanted to read this one. She did an excellent job. I loved how it started with Pearl doing a stunt scene in the prologue and then backed up to tell how she got there. It was an interesting perspective on early movie making and ranching.

What a fun spin on history.

Pearl is a girl who lives on an ostrich farm in a small town. Her older brothers all work as stunt men in the big motion pictures. Her whole world changes the day she unexpectedly gets her own big break.

I loved that this was just a feel good book. Pearl was such a fun character, it's easy to love her. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the world through her eyes. I loved the portrayal of a part of history I'm not too familiar with. This was just a fast fun book I couldn't get enough of.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the illustrations and storyline. It was one of those books that reads quick and you don't want to put it down. It is simple, easy to understand and fun.

Good Fun, He Said Wistfully

This is an excellent read across the board -- feisty heroine, strong family values, gripping action, mellow good humor, an upbeat vibe, well balanced action, strong pacing, uniformly engaging characters. The heroine's voice is pitch perfect and the appealing girrrl power message is strong but subtle.

This is a fine complement to "Daring Darleen, Queen of the Screen", another recently published book for the same readership that features another spunky, daring girl, and covers the same silent film making territory, although in New Jersey of all places, and with a little more streetwise tone.

I put "wistfully" in the caption because I wonder who will read this. Do kids know what silent films are? Do they recognize all of the settled western/cowboy conventions. I'm in western Colorado. The kids ride and tend horses; they go to rodeos. They do ranch chores. Outside of a few places, though, will stories about that sort of life resonate with a modern reader? I hope so. Because these are very good books, and kids should know about and experience such things.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Sooo fun and light-hearted. It has kind of old-fashioned feeling; it reminds me of historical fiction I might have read in the early 90s. Timeless feeing. Pearl is a very appealing character and I like that even Mary Mason turns out to have appealing qualities. Background info about the early days of movies is worked in fairly naturally and the ostriches are a nice touch. Lack of diversity is the overwhelming concern. The past was not entirely populated by white people.

A fun story about the early days of film making. Readers will enjoy the quick pace and the illustrations. Skews more towards younger MG readers. As a fan of this particular era of the movies, I'm excited to see a book about it for younger readers. The afterword might be daunting to some readers but a great stepping off point for the kids who fall in love with the story.

This was a fun MG book! I live in Southern California and have actually been hot air ballooning in the area of the book so it was particularly fun to read about Pearl's adventures! My students love books with action and adventure and this has plenty of both!

Educator Notes: As a 4th grade teacher in CA I am always looking for historical fiction set in California so this will be an excellent addition to my collection! Also, this book would be a great tie in for a unit on storytelling and I can envision some great projects for the students to do after reading the book related to creating their own movie shorts.

Mini Review: This was a delightful MG book! I really enjoyed reading about Pearl and her family, and their stunts. Learning a little about the early days of movies was also interesting. Even though I obviously know movies haven't been around that long (the early 1900s really weren't that long ago, though with technology it's easy to forget that), it's so weird to think of a time when "moving pictures" was considered new, and how fascinated people were with them, and how they were such a novelty back then. I honestly can't imagine not having movies and TV now, they have such a huge impact on our world. As an adult I quite enjoyed reading this book, and I know when I was around Pearl's age, I would have absolutely loved it! I also quite liked the illustrations. Definitely recommend trying this MG book! :)

The Nerviest Girl in the World is one of those entertaining and adorable books one reads for pure pleasure. The main character, Pearl, really does have the pluck and zip that inspires the title. The characterization and voicing in this novel is particularly outstanding and natural; it seems well-suited to an audio version so perhaps someday luck will favor us with that option. The story is simple and a bit nostalgic as it looks at a unique cross-hair of time in which traditional ranch life is intersecting with the beginnings of the film industry. Both are interesting.

With just the right amount of peril and a fast read with some complimentary illustrations, this is a strong candidate for reluctant readers and for lighter, escapist summer reading that would appeal to both male and female readers. Enjoy the uncomplicated pleasure of a fun read!

Review of a Digital Advance Review Copy

Lovely book that showcases our heroines of the world. Definitely a book to recommend to our children! Therefore we teach nd learn from history to change the world we live in now.

Historical fiction can be a hard sell for kids unless there is a war or disaster involved. This is a well-told story that I think will engage readers that may not usually read this genre due to the plucky main character and interesting history of movies woven in. It has a nice balance of facts and fun.

Pearl lives on an ostrich farm near the small town of Lemon Springs, California, in the early 1900s with her family, including three older brothers who are working as stunt men in films. Mr. Corrigan, who is producing silent pictures, relies on their horsemanship to add excitement to his story lines. The pay isn't unwelcome, and it's fun for Pearl to watch her siblings in action, as long as she doesn't forget that it's acting and disrupts filming by shouting out! When she is watching from the back of her horse one day, unexpected gunshots spook the animal and send the two racing across a field. Of course, the astute cameraman captures this, and Mr. Corrigan works the scene into the story line... since Pearl isn't hurt, of course! Soon, Pearl is working part time for the films in a variety of roles. Her parents are okay with this, and even have a phone line put in so that they can speak to Mr. Corrigan. Pearl still has to do her chores with the ostriches, and she puts in extra hours at home preparing for some of the stunts, such as the one where she accidentally goes up in a hot air balloon and has to shimmy down a rope to escape. The one problem she has is Mary, another girl her age who is an actress and seems to dislike Pearl for no particularly good reason.

Strengths: After reading book after book with sad things going on, this was a HUGE relief. Aside from the slight problem with Mary (which is nicely resolved), this is just a refreshing depiction of life in the early 1900s. Farming, cantankerous ostriches, the fledgling cinema world, and Pearl's fun and forthright interactions with all of these things. I loved that she was in a film but had never seen one! The grandmother is a great character, cooking with ostrich eggs and telling Pearl that she's growing too fast, so she can wear her brother's old pants, and generally injecting even more fun into a blissfully angst-free tale. For some reason (maybe the occasional page illustrations), this reminded me a bit of Cleary's Emily's Runaway Imagination!

Weaknesses: I wish this were a longer book, and I don't say that often. I really wanted to know more about Pearl's career, and her life in California.

What I really think: Like Nesbet's Daring Darleen: Queen of the Screen, this covers a somewhat obscure but really fascinating time period. It's a quick, fascinating read that I can't wait to put into my students' hands.