43 pages 1 hour read

Holly Goldberg Sloan

Short

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2017

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Chapters 5-13

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 5 Summary

Julia begins collecting items for her scrapbook as play rehearsals continue. Shawn Barr teaches Julia and the other Munchkin cast about movement as an actor, and Julia uses these lessons to analyze her family members based on their movement style. Julia resonates with this body-focused way of interpreting people’s personalities, and she decides that her own movements imply that she doesn’t want to take up space or be noticed.

Chapter 6 Summary

At the second rehearsal, Shawn Barr plays a short scene from The Wizard of Oz movie with the sound on mute and directs the cast to pay attention to the Munchkins’ movement. After the viewing, Shawn Barr asks the cast members to pair up with one another for a mirror exercise, also known as a shadow exercise. Julia, wanting to make new friends, does not pair up with her brother but instead asks Olive to be her partner. Olive and Julia mirror one another through a series of steps, and Julia admires how intentional and bold Olive is in her movements. Following this exercise, Shawn Barr begins teaching the show’s choreography, which Julia realizes comes much quicker to her because of the previous exercise.