Taking the Lead |
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Summary:
Bayview’s spring musical is underway and nothing is going right. Autumn Bracken didn’t get the lead role, the new sound system disappears, and someone has it in for the shy stage manager, Emma. Mean rumours and insults about Emma begin to fly online on a terrible website targeting her. Will Autumn trade in her dream to save someone else's nightmare? |
Before You Read — Pre-Reading
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Chapter One—Eye of the Storm
Summary:
Autumn Bracken is devastated. Auditions are over and she does not get the lead part in the school musical. She admits that her friend Hing has a great voice and she will have to be content with the second lead. |
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Chapter Two—Making It Work
Summary:
After three weeks of rehearsing for the musical Sweet Carolina Blue, the cast is getting to know each other. Autumn starts to see another side of Hing; the one that is mean-spirited and hurtful. Most of Hing’s nastiness is directed at a girl named Emma who is helping out with the play. Autumn is uncomfortable but doesn’t say anything. |
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Chapter Three—Let the Games Begin
Summary:
Tyler and Hing drop Autumn off at home. She is late for dinner and hates not having family time with her dad and sister. Autumn’s mom has passed away and her father is re-married. Autumn is very protective of her sister Marly, especially now that Marly is dating James. After talking to her dad, Autumn checks her e-mail and then logs onto ChatBrat. She is horrified to learn that the conversation is all about Emma. She does not know what to do about all the vicious talk. |
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Chapter Four—Theft Over a Thousand
Summary:
Autumn gets to her locker and finds a note from Angela to meet her and Carly for lunch in the cafeteria. Walking down the hallway, Autumn notices the poster for the school musical. She cannot help but feel a pang of jealousy. She hears shouting from the gym. Someone has stolen the sound system with all the taped music. The drama and music students worked hard to raise five thousand dollars to buy the system. Autumn tells Mr. Thomas she will ask Marly to play the piano for them. |
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Chapter Five—Tough Questions
Summary:
Autumn looks for Marly all day. She asks Marly to play the piano for the musical. Marly just laughs. Then Autumn brings up doing it so their mother would be proud. Marly is annoyed since Autumn never talks about their mother since she died. Autumn is keeping it all in so she won’t cry. Finally, Marly agrees to play and they go to rehearsal after school. Hing and Tyler continue to be mean to Emma and some of the cast follows their lead. |
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Chapter Six—Target Practice
Summary:
Autumn goes to the library to work on her computer programming homework. Big Dog tosses her a note about how good her hair looks. Autumn makes a smart comment and then ignores him. She looks in the drama room to see Emma and Mr. Thomas working. Hing and Tyler come by and begin harassment Emma again. Autumn tries jokingly to intervene but she is worried about Hing attacking her. She feels bad for Emma. |
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Chapter Seven—Sour Note
Summary:
Rehearsal is long as the cast practices both their lines and the songs. Autumn is prepared, but Hing does not seem to know her lines very well. Hing also has trouble with her solo. She starts bossing people around and insulting them, especially Emma. When Hing starts to complain about Marly’s playing, Marly steps in and puts her in her place. She tells Autumn to stand up to Hing too. |
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Chapter Eight—Name in Lights
Summary:
Autumn and Marly have supper with their dad and talk about the musical. When they talk about how funny their mom was, Autumn withdraws. She notices her dad’s pills for high blood pressure and scolds him about taking his medication. After dinner, Autumn goes to the computer room and starts up ChatBrat. She is directed to a website called ihatevampiregirl.com. The site is a vicious attack on Emma. Autumn’s dad nearly walks in and sees but Autumn closes the window. When she tells her chat room buddies that they should tell someone, Hing threatens her. |
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Chapter Nine—Picking Up the Pieces
Summary:
Autumn stays away from ChatBrat but she knows that Emma is being picked on when she overhears some of the cast members talking openly about Emma. When they get to rehearsal, they find that the entire set is smashed. They think it is Lincoln High, their rival school. But Mr. Thomas tells them about the gang activity around the city. The break-in could be gang- or drug-related. They practice on the floor. Hing is having difficulty singing. Mr. Thomas suggests she see a doctor. Some of the students think that Emma has done the damage. Autumn tells them to leave Emma alone. Hing asks Autumn to go shopping at the mall on Saturday. |
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Chapter Ten—Back to Reality
Summary:
Autumn checks out the Vampire Girl website. There are many new additions. She contacts the webmaster to say that the website is guilty of a criminal offence. Then she practises Hing’s songs and dance moves. On Saturday, Hing and Autumn have a great day shopping. On Monday, there are posters everywhere advertising the website. The posters show a ghastly picture of Emma. When she sees Tyler and Hing in the library, she confronts them about the posters. They think it is a joke. When Autumn tells them they need to take the posters down Hing tells her to leave it alone. |
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Chapter Eleven—Red-Handed
Summary:
Autumn removes all the ihatevampiregirl.com posters she can find. Ms. Jenkins, the gym teacher, notices the posters when Autumn is taking them down. Ms. Jenkins takes them to the principal. Autumn sees Emma in the cafeteria and tries to offer her help with the set. At rehearsal, Hing struggles with her part. Autumn tries to help her but Hing just storms off. Mr. Klassen asks Autumn to step in to finish the scene. |
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Chapter Twelve—Passing the Torch
Summary:
Autumn is troubled about Emma and doesn’t sleep well. She gets up early and goes to school. Mr. Thomas calls her to the music room. He and Mr. Klassen offer her the lead part because Hing’s voice is not improving. Autumn is ecstatic and runs to tell her friends. Big Dog sees her and teases her. In the library, she sees Tyler and Hing. She tells Hing she is sorry about her voice. Autumn stands up to Hing making comments about her being second place. Hing offers her hand in congratulations. |
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Chapter Thirteen—Friends on the Front Lines
Summary:
Autumn meets her friends in the cafeteria. Big Dog and the rowers are nearby. When Hing comes by, she tries to get attention by announcing loudly that she has vocal nodes. When she notices Emma, she begins harassing her again. Big Dog steps in and calls Hing a witch. The rowers join in. They invite Emma to their table for lunch. Autumn goes to talk to Emma. She looks at Big Dog in a new light for helping Emma. He tells her the website will be taken down and that the principal is investigating. |
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Chapter Fourteen—Scapegoat
Summary:
When Autumn goes to the library on her spare, she notices that the “I Hate Vampiregirl” website is still up. Mr. Thomas notices when she closes the window. Hing and Tyler are laughing so she goes over and tells them to stop. Hing accuses Autumn of creating the website. During last period, the principal talks about the bullying policy. Hing shows up at rehearsal but Autumn is worried about what she might do. Marly intervenes and Hing is sent off to help backstage. She does not stay. Autumn does her first solo and gets a standing ovation from the cast. |
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Chapter Fifteen—A Voice in the Darkness
Summary:
Autumn stays after rehearsal and runs through her positions on stage. Mr. Thomas leaves and tells her to turn off the lights. She hears Hing asking about her in the hall so she turns off the lights in the gym and hides out. She sits in the dark and reflects on allowing Tyler and Hing to bully Emma. She hears some noises on the stage and is terrified that someone is breaking in again. Just then, she hears someone singing the main solo from Sweet Carolina Blue. The beautiful voice fills she gym. She creeps closer to see who it is. It is Emma! |
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Chapter Sixteen—Phantom Diva
Summary:
Autumn searches everywhere for Emma and finally tracks her down. She finds out that Emma’s mother was an opera singer and that Emma has been singing most of her life. Autumn wonders why Emma has not tried out for the show but Emma says she is not up to being on stage. Mr. Thomas hears her singing too. Autumn has an idea. |
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Chapter Seventeen—'Fess Up
Summary:
School is different today. Teachers are meeting, posters appear about responsibility, character, and courage and Emma is talking to the guidance counsellor. Hing calls Autumn over in the library. The principal wants to talk to Tyler, Rashad, and Hing. Hing wants to know who told. Autumn lays into Hing in the library. She calls her a mean, rotten person. Everyone starts to clap. Autumn heads for the office and stands in line. She goes into the counsellor’s office. She is worried about being expelled. She cannot explain why she didn’t say something. Mrs. Haskins the counsellor hands Autumn a paper about cyber-bullying and tells Autumn to read it. It tells how to deal with the problem. |
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Chapter Eighteen—In the Spotlight
Summary:
Big Dog is waiting for Autumn. He tells her that he and Shawn are helping to get to the bottom of who set up the website. He thinks Hing and Tyler will be expelled. Autumn suggest that Big Dog help her with her computer course. Autumn then finds Emma and tries to apologize. She finds out that Emma’s mother died too. They have something in common. Emma does not want to go to rehearsal but Autumn drags her there. |
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Chapter Nineteen—Facing the Music
Summary:
Mr. Thomas tells the cast that the sound system has been recovered and that Autumn will not perform the lead role. Autumn takes a secondary role. They call Emma to the front and centre. She looks terrified. Autumn begs her to sing and she belts is out to everyone’s amazement. |
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Chapter Twenty—Second Chances
Summary:
It was a long rehearsal as Emma learns where to stand on stage and all the players are fitted for costumes. Emma thanks Autumn for giving up the lead and Big Dog tells her what a nice thing she has done. Big Dog asks if she wants a ride home. Autumn finally figures out that he has a crush on her. She gives him her number and asks him to call to help her with her computer homework. |
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Chapter Twenty-One—Curtain Call
Summary:
The musical is a huge success. On closing night, the cast is onstage for a standing ovation. Big Dog, who Autumn now calls Mark, hands red roses to the music teacher for Autumn. Emma can hardly keep from smiling. Everyone can hardly wait to get to the cast party at Mr. Thomas’s house. Autumn has one last thing to do. She and Mark drive to the cemetery. With the show program in her hand, the two of them walk through the cemetery looking for her mother’s grave. |
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After Reading — Post-Reading Reflection
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