The Missing Extra, by Jacky Rom

I am a Dance teacher and loads of the kids I teach talk about these books. They love them

The Amazing Adventures of Starr : The Missing Extra
Book One

Author: Jacky Rom
Reviewer: Fran Lewis

Move over Nancy Drew and make way for the newest sleuth on the block, 11-year-old Starr Fox. Starr is an aspiring actress with a mother who organizes, coordinates and schedules her auditions and daily activities. Starr's mother, or the Drill Sergeant, as she so aptly calls her, is involved in every aspect of her life including what she wears, how she walks and what she says.

Starr is about to audition for the lead in a major film in London. She is excited about the audition and is well prepared. Her mom goes around telling everyone that she is a star and is going to be in a movie. She is living vicariously through her daughter and is lucky that Starr is a really great young lady and does not rebel.

As Starr prepares for her audition for the movie, The Secret, and finally gets the role, she enters a world that is not only competitive but, at times dangerous.

After meeting with the director and getting to know the staff on the film, she meets her stand-in named Grace. Grace and Starr become great friends and team up to solve the disappearance of an extra who is there one morning and gone in the afternoon.

Grace and Starr overhear a conversation between two people working on the film and decide to investigate on their own to find out what happened to the missing extra. With careful reasoning, help from their driver, their chaperone, Sean and many other people they meet on the set, the two girls manage to get into trouble.

Starr is a bright, smart, sassy and clever young lady who uncovers the mystery of why the extra was kidnapped and who was behind it.

To find out just how much mischief these two amateur detectives got into and how they managed to save the day, you have to read the book.

The characters are well defined. Both Starr's and Grace's mothers are two of a kind and will remind you of typical stage mothers who want their children to be movie stars at all cost. Starr is a great role model for all children her age. She is responsible, hard working and respectful. She enjoys acting, she continues to be centered and grounded with the help of her mild-mannered father.


This is Jacky Rom's debut as a children's author and this reviewer hopes that her sequels are as well written and entertaining as this one.


Great Job! I can't wait to read Book 2.
Fran Lewis

An excellent read for children aged 7-12 all about the amazing adventures of Starr - a mix between detective and the glamourous world of fame and fortune in the movie industry.