This cute 24 page book is for the 2nd to 5th Grade crowd. The subject is Ashley Tisdale of "High School Musical" fame. Though many will kids will know her from "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody".

The book is entirely wholesome with nothing that I could find to object to. There chapter headings are:

Meet Ashley Tisdale
A Child Actor
Ashley on TV
Ashley's Suite Break
High School Musical
Ashley's Music
Headstrong
High School Sequels
What's Next?
Fun Facts
Glossary
Index
Websites

The full page photos -- shown on just about every other page -- mostly show Ashley with other stars; the cast of HSM; Ashley with Brenda Song; Ashley with the Sprout brothers, etc.

There's a glossary at the end of the book where words like "Agent", "Favorite", and even "Hotel" are defined. [Don't know what is up with that; it's rather silly given the reading level.]

There is also a "fact" sheet where bullet items tell us things like the fact that Ashley is 5 ft. 3 in. tall.

All in all, it will appeal mostly to young girls, although my boy did take a brief look at it. The Accelerated Reading Level (ATOS) for the book is 3.0 which means that the average entering 3rd Grader should be able to read it without getting frustrated by the vocabulary.

The principle value of books like this is that they promote reading: A Very Worthy Goal.

Pam T. for http://www.BooksForKids-Reviews.com ( )