Kind of a Big Deal Is Kind of Amazing and Hilarious

Roaring Brook Press

“I’m kind of a big deal” is a phrase that is commonly used as an exaggeration; the first entry on Urban Dictionary describes it as “A term for a person who is facetiously joking about how important/cool/awesome they are.” I personally had never heard it used in a serious manner until I picked up Shannon Hale’s new YA novel Kind of a Big Deal. Predictably, reading it numerous times without a hint of sarcasm made me roll my eyes—and that’s exactly what Hale intended to happen.

Kind of a Big Deal is the story of Josie, a high school dropout who was most definitely a big deal when it came to singing and musical theater. With encouragement from her drama instructor, Josie travels to New York during her senior year to try and make it big on Broadway, convinced that it’s going to be smooth sailing. After numerous failed auditions and feeling the weight of humiliation that she may not be as talented as she once thought, Josie becomes a live-in nanny in Montana, avoiding going back home to face her friends and classmates and admit to failing. During her stay in Montana, she comes across a bookstore that sells her peculiar books; Josie often finds herself transported into each story she reads, and the power to make things go her way becomes tempting enough for her to consider living in her fantasies permanently.

The most important thing to know about this book is that it’s a comedy. The humor is very tongue-in-cheek and self-aware, with the story moving pretty quickly and the dialogue loaded with snappy banter. Combined with the shifts in genre that happen every time Josie enters a book, the novel overall is very stylized and never takes itself too seriously, almost reminiscent of Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge! My favorite of Josie’s forays has to be when she finds herself starring in a postapocalyptic zombie romance; even with danger lurking around every corner, the melodramatic narration and Josie’s dance-fighting had me laughing every few seconds.

The premise was initially what drew me in, but it took me a few chapters to warm up to Josie as a character. As a former theater kid myself, I’ve had to work with peers who thought highly of themselves, and I found myself getting irritated and slightly offended when Josie’s inner monologue would talk about how talented she was (or how she felt community theater was beneath her abilities). Her disastrous stint in New York humbles her a bit, and with each utterance of “I was kind of a big deal . . .” her bravado begins to chip away, revealing that her passion for theater is her lifeline amidst being forced to grow up before she was ready. The little control she has comes from her ability to (somewhat) shape the stories she’s immersed in, adding in Broadway-style dance numbers and living out cathartic fantasies with her real-life boyfriend, Justin.

There are a couple of twists near the end of the novel, but they’re set up well, and I was kicking myself for not connecting everything sooner. Despite the fact that Josie’s able to work through many of her personal problems by interacting with characters who look like people she knows, there’s a sense that every time she gets transported into a book, something’s not quite right about it. While there is that growing sense of dread, the little girl Josie nannies for, Mia, is consistently the person to bring her back to the real world, and while she’s definitely one of the more amusing side characters, she acts as Josie’s anchor and reminder that real life is worth the struggle. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to escape life’s responsibilities for a while, especially given how stressful 2020 has been so far. But Hale’s ultimate message is that growing up means making hard choices and facing the things that scare you, and while that fact is inescapable, it doesn’t mean you should sacrifice what makes you happy. Be brave and face the world with a can-do attitude . . . and a Spice Girls medley for good measure.

Kind of a Big Deal hits shelves August 25, 2020.