Mum is overjoyed. ‘My boy is treading the boards,’ she gushes, and throws her arms around me. She could simply have said, ‘He’s in a play.’ But you don’t know my mum.
Then she immediately rings Dad. ‘Thomas is strutting the stage,’ she announces. ‘He takes after us…What? No, not your family. My family. The artistic side.’
I have to listen to all this.
When it is announced that class 8B will be putting on a play, no one is less impressed than Tom. The only good thing is that he manages not to get a speaking part. Until his best friend unexpectedly leaves the country. Suddenly, Tom has a part to play – and a line to learn. A line which, if spoken incorrectly, could prove to embarrassing.
Still, it’s not all bad. The teacher, Mr Bloomer, has arranged for the lovely Miss Effington-Smythe to come along to rehearsals and offer some advice. She is beautiful – and Tom wants desperately to be noticed by her. Then Tom sees his father with another beautiful young woman, and his troubles really start. How can he get his dad to see the error of his ways?
Treading the Boards is a humorous novel for upper primary aged readers, with lots of silliness and some twists and turns, with some gentle exploration of issues including family break ups and first crushes . Mostly, though, it’s just a good fun read, likely to appeal to both boy and girl readers.
Treading the boards, by Celeste Walters
Little Hare, 2007