ACTING UP

Sam, age 15, struggles to be “mature” in this engaging comedy. He lives in a small Canadian town where everyone knows everyone else, but Sam will soon learn that even small-town scrutiny can overlook little quirks. Everything goes wrong with Sam’s plans, starting when he’s assigned to “mother” a mechanical baby doll that cries at the drop of a hat and must find a way to play drums for the most important gig his band ever has booked while also trying to comfort the doll. No matter how mature he tries to be, Sam keeps getting into more and more trouble. Filled with such colorful secondary characters as the middle-aged couple who open a sex shop, Sam’s dangerously rebellious girlfriend, Martha, and the famous writer who keeps Sam at his beck and call, the story gallops along with disaster after disaster for the hapless Sam, who tries so hard to do his best. While maturity may remain elusive for Sam, readers won’t have any trouble finding laughs in this sly, wining tale. Chuckles galore. (Fiction. 14 & up)