A MILLION VIEWS
Brewster Gaines just wanted to make a video and get a million views – he didn’t count on needing friends to get there. From the author of Spontaneous and the Locker 37 series comes a heartfelt story of friendship, family, and filmmaking.
Brewster Gaines loves everything about making videos. The planning, the filming, the editing, and especially the feeling of watching his YouTube views tick up and up. So what if he doesn’t have friends to film with or parents who are home every night for dinner? He’s got a phone and a tripod and a lofty goal:
A million views.
But when he enlists the acting chops of charismatic new kid Carly for a ten-second video, he gets more than he bargained for. Her intimidating friend Rosa soon steps in with funding to produce an epic fantasy trailer, and before long, their tiny team is adding cast and crew. What started as a simple shoot mutates into a full-fledged movie production, complete with method-acting cosplayers, special effects, and a monster made out of a go-kart. That’s when Brewster realizes that getting to a million views may be harder than he ever imagined . . .
Penguin Workshop, October 4, 2022
HC ISBN: 9780593386934
Readers: Middle Grade (10 and up)
REVIEWS
"Starmer skillfully explores his band of misfits: Every one of the seven tweens gets subtle character shadings that make for a memorably engaging group of characters. The humor is sharp, the story is well paced, and any reader who ever hoped to go viral will find plenty to enjoy here…A well-rounded, heartfelt tale of creativity and family." — Kirkus Reviews (★ starred review)
"Gentle humor buoys personal growth in this character-driven novel of filmmaking...Wryly narrated in the third person and filled with believable, intriguing characters." — Publisher’s Weekly
"Starmer delivers his signature offbeat humor here through quirky secondary characters and quippy narration."—Booklist
“Through crisp prose heavy on action and immediate thoughts and feelings, Waterbury author Starmer magnifies his characters' personalities as they figure out how their skills are complementary — and how they clash.” — Seven Days
“Readers won’t be able to put it down.” — Time for Kids
“A Million Views turns its lens on YouTube fame in a way that’s fun, educational, and inspiring.”—Ryan North, New York Times best-selling author of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
“A celebration of the creative spirit in all of us!”—Rob Harrell, author of Wink