"All right! So let's start at the revolution scene.
Timmy, you stand here, and Tom, you go over there,
and ride in on your horse.
Now, please,
quiet, everyone!
Shhhh!"
For fans of Colette's Lost Pet (2017) and Albert's Quiet Quest (2019), this is a trip back to the Mile End community, and all of the Clark Alley neighborhood kids. This time they are involved in a play for which Maya has made herself director. The action for readers starts with a costume box. The players are keen to see what it holds; each knows exactly what they are hoping to see. They have been practicing all day, and they are certain they are ready for the upcoming performance. Maya wants perfection!
While the others stand about looking disgruntled by the change in plans, Maya makes it known that she is in charge. Surely you know someone like Maya, don't you? She demands attention, and the crew gets right to another rehearsal. Finally, it's costume time. While some actors find exactly what they are looking for, others are less enchanted. But, wait! Don';t forget that Maya is the one in charge.
"Wait a minute, Are you telling me that this
is my king's costume? This ... this ... pink thing?
What's wrong with pink?
I don't like pink.
Well, in my queendom, that's what the king is
wearing."
Maya is demanding, bossy, uncompromising, and often annoying! It takes one child's voice of reason to make her see things from the actors' viewpoints. She acquiesces, the show goes on with all involved happy to be there. Soon, from the other side of two fences come quiet voices of appreciation for Maya and her magnificent troupe.
"Bravo!
Bravissimo!
That was triumphant!
Maya, the drama queen!"
The bold colors chosen as the palette for this story bring focus to both expression and emotion as the drama of the story plays out.
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