Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Drum Roll, Please
Lisa Jenn Bigelow · 2018
74/100
👍 Worth It
Lisa Jenn Bigelow's debut is a genuinely warm summer-camp story with an emotionally honest take on parental divorce and shifting friendships, and the music-camp setting gives it real freshness. Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and SLJ all praised it, and that consensus reflects something real — the emotional authenticity earns it. Faith-traditional families should know the same-sex first-crush arc is central to the story, not background.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: LGBTQ romantic arc (same-sex first crush) is the narrative core, not incidental; faith-traditional families should screen before assigning. We still scored it 74; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety65
substance72
craft76
originality70
accuracy80
hype72
age-fit78
human-eye75
Penny’s verdict74
Cross-pollinate