Joan Lowery Nixon's `Hollywood' trilogy explains the problems of child stars

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JOAN LOWERY NIXON'S `HOLLYWOOD' TRILOGY EXPLAINS THE PROBLEMS OF CHILD STARS

December 30, 1991

Joan Lowery Nixon is one of my favorite authors. So when I heard she came out with a trilogy, Hollywood Daughters, I was excited to read it. The books in the trilogy are: Star Baby, Overnight Sensation and Encore. Their stories take you through the life of Hollywood in the '40s, '60s and '90s.

The first book, Star Baby, takes place in the 1940s. It is about 17-year-old Abby Baynes, who used to be a child star. At 7 she had a salary that most adults envied. Throughout the story she has many problems _ trying to be better than another teen-age rival star, Linda Larkin; dealing with all the arguments she has with her mother; handling her brother's problems; and learning to accept her boyfriend going off to war. Just when she is ready to give up, an eccentric neighbor helps Abby.

The second book, Overnight Sensation, is about Abby's daughter, 18-year-old Cassie Martin. Cassie finds herself in love with Marc Jenkins. Marc's ambition is to one day be a famous filmmaker. Cassie soon finds herself going against her parents' wishes to try to get money to finance Marc's film.

And last, the third book, Encore, is about 16-year-old Erin Jenkins, the daughter of Cassie Jenkins. Erin can't understand why her parents disapprove of her life as a TV star in the '90s. They want her to lead a normal teen-age life, while Erin wants to be like her fabulous grandmother, Abby Grant.

Soon Erin's TV show, The Family Next Door, gets canceled and Erin is very sad. Her TV family had almost seemed more real to her than her real family. To find out how Erin's spirits rise, you'll have to read this book.

I thought that this trilogy was good. It explained what kind of pressures a child star feels while growing up.

It was strange that in every book the daughter is always trying to defy her mother. The books were made up of mostly arguments and problems like a TV show, but unlike a television show, some of them were not solved in the usual, "happily ever after" way.

I've always liked Joan Lowery Nixon because of her suspenseful writings. Her other series, The Orphan Train Quartet, was also good, but I really think she needs to stick to mystery.

I think in this trilogy, Overnight Sensation and Encore were the best because I could identify with the characters in those books better. The books cost $14.95 each in hardcover and are all between 179 and 196 pages.

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