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A Million Views
Brewster Gaines just wanted to make a video and get a million views - he didn't count on needing friends to get there.
Brewster Gaines loves everything about making videos. The planning, the filming, the editing, and especially the feeling of watching his YouTube views tick up and up. So what if he doesn’t have friends to film with or parents who are home every night for dinner? He’s got a phone and a tripod and a lofty goal...
A million views.
But when he enlists the acting chops of charismatic new kid Carly for a ten-second video, he gets more than he bargained for. Her intimidating friend Rosa soon steps in with funding to produce an epic fantasy trailer, and before long, their tiny team is adding cast and crew. What started as a simple shoot mutates into a full-fledged movie production, complete with method-acting cosplayers, special effects, and a monster made out of a go-kart. That’s when Brewster realizes that getting to a million views may be harder than he ever imagined . . .
Brewster Gaines loves everything about making videos. The planning, the filming, the editing, and especially the feeling of watching his YouTube views tick up and up. So what if he doesn’t have friends to film with or parents who are home every night for dinner? He’s got a phone and a tripod and a lofty goal...
A million views.
But when he enlists the acting chops of charismatic new kid Carly for a ten-second video, he gets more than he bargained for. Her intimidating friend Rosa soon steps in with funding to produce an epic fantasy trailer, and before long, their tiny team is adding cast and crew. What started as a simple shoot mutates into a full-fledged movie production, complete with method-acting cosplayers, special effects, and a monster made out of a go-kart. That’s when Brewster realizes that getting to a million views may be harder than he ever imagined . . .
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2022
5 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 21, 2022
Disinterested parents. Characters are somehow boring like youngsters can do whatever they want when it comes to the internet and getting views. It doesn’t work like that. Yes, it’s fiction. But it’s not convincing as it should be.
February 12, 2023
Brewster Gaines is determined to make a 10 video to put on YouTube that will get a million views. So far, his videos haven't come close to that number, so the next one needs to be great. Since it requires a person to easily fall backwards into a shallow hole after being pushed, he recruits Carly, a pretty good skateboarder. But with Carly comes Rosa, who has money and ideas of her own about how Brewster's video should go. Brewster, who is basically friendless, quickly discovers he needs more people to help with the video and next thing he knows, he has other kids willing to work and be his friend. This is a sweet story that contains a lot of interesting information about filmmaking and video equipment. I don't really watch YouTube except for book trailers, but found it all interesting. Interestingly, Brewster doesn't realize how little affection there is in his family until he finally has friends and sees how they interact with their families, even if they also have family problems. So it's not surprising that, alone in his room, Brewster loses himself in YouTube videos. He's just looking for validation he doesn't get at home. I liked this story although Brewster did get on my nerves periodically. Still, for the commentary on social media and middle school kids, it's worth a read.
March 31, 2024
A Maine Student Book Award Nominee for 23|24.
Brewster Gaines is used to doing things on his own. That includes making videos. His goal is for one of his videos to get a million views on YouTube.
When he asks a classmate to fall into a hole, it’s the beginning of a beautiful journey towards friendship. A fun story about a group of kids coming together to tell a fantastic story. I really enjoyed this one!
Brewster Gaines is used to doing things on his own. That includes making videos. His goal is for one of his videos to get a million views on YouTube.
When he asks a classmate to fall into a hole, it’s the beginning of a beautiful journey towards friendship. A fun story about a group of kids coming together to tell a fantastic story. I really enjoyed this one!
November 12, 2022
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Brewster Gaines is bound and determined to work his way to fame and fortune by producing a video that goes viral on YouTube, and he even understands how much work this might take. He needs a good premise, a friend to help act in the video, and a schedule to insure that he gets optimal viewing to hit his goal... a million views. He does manage to rope in Carly, who is new to Vermont. She agrees to be pushed into a pit multiple times for Brewster's video about a friend who won't answer his texts. He gets more than he has bargained for, however, when Rosa claims to be Carly's agent. She has $5,000 to spend on the video, but wants it to be a trailer for a nonexistent movie called Carly Lee and the Land of Shadows. This necessitates bringing in Godfrey Tarkington and his sister Izzie, whose family is big into cosplay and has so many costumes that Godfrey and Izzie share a bedroom so that one room can be devoted to their stock. They also bring in fifth grader Harriet for back up acting, and Liam for his technical skills. Before long, they are filming every day (as after school activity schedules permit) and are learning about Golden Hours, story boards, dailies, and other film details. They get in trouble at school for filming, and their teacher thinks he is doing them a favor by not destroying their footage, but assigning them a documentary to finish as well. Cryptically, Rosa has a firm deadline for the trailer, so the work is feverish, even if it does involve plenty of snacks. Will the group be able to complete their trailer AND their documentary in time, and will all of this work result in the social media attention that Brewster craves?
Strengths: The most requested topic for books in my library, after sports books, are funny stories that are realistic. Sadly, there aren't as many of those published as you would think. Brewster's ambitions are very common, and he surrounds himself happily with a quirky cast of characters who all have their own unique contributions to make to his film. It ends up being more work than any of them expect, but they throw themselves into the work (and a pit!) with abandon. Their parents give them space to do this, and (in Rosa's case) a bit of money that is handled in a very realistic way.
Weaknesses: This was a bit on the long side. Since I have no desire to ever make a movie to put on YouTube, I wasn't as interested, but since my students all think they can have careers as YouTube stars, I think it will be a hit with deluded youth!
What I really think: Hand this to fans of Hart's Marcus Makes a Movie or Greenwald's Pete Milano's Guide to Being a Movie Star, and see if it changes their opinions about being a video sensation. It might even give them some helpful pointers!
Brewster Gaines is bound and determined to work his way to fame and fortune by producing a video that goes viral on YouTube, and he even understands how much work this might take. He needs a good premise, a friend to help act in the video, and a schedule to insure that he gets optimal viewing to hit his goal... a million views. He does manage to rope in Carly, who is new to Vermont. She agrees to be pushed into a pit multiple times for Brewster's video about a friend who won't answer his texts. He gets more than he has bargained for, however, when Rosa claims to be Carly's agent. She has $5,000 to spend on the video, but wants it to be a trailer for a nonexistent movie called Carly Lee and the Land of Shadows. This necessitates bringing in Godfrey Tarkington and his sister Izzie, whose family is big into cosplay and has so many costumes that Godfrey and Izzie share a bedroom so that one room can be devoted to their stock. They also bring in fifth grader Harriet for back up acting, and Liam for his technical skills. Before long, they are filming every day (as after school activity schedules permit) and are learning about Golden Hours, story boards, dailies, and other film details. They get in trouble at school for filming, and their teacher thinks he is doing them a favor by not destroying their footage, but assigning them a documentary to finish as well. Cryptically, Rosa has a firm deadline for the trailer, so the work is feverish, even if it does involve plenty of snacks. Will the group be able to complete their trailer AND their documentary in time, and will all of this work result in the social media attention that Brewster craves?
Strengths: The most requested topic for books in my library, after sports books, are funny stories that are realistic. Sadly, there aren't as many of those published as you would think. Brewster's ambitions are very common, and he surrounds himself happily with a quirky cast of characters who all have their own unique contributions to make to his film. It ends up being more work than any of them expect, but they throw themselves into the work (and a pit!) with abandon. Their parents give them space to do this, and (in Rosa's case) a bit of money that is handled in a very realistic way.
Weaknesses: This was a bit on the long side. Since I have no desire to ever make a movie to put on YouTube, I wasn't as interested, but since my students all think they can have careers as YouTube stars, I think it will be a hit with deluded youth!
What I really think: Hand this to fans of Hart's Marcus Makes a Movie or Greenwald's Pete Milano's Guide to Being a Movie Star, and see if it changes their opinions about being a video sensation. It might even give them some helpful pointers!
Read
February 15, 2023I guess if a kid was interested in making YouTube videos, they might enjoy this book. Should it be in humor though? I didn't laugh once. This book just annoyed me. The writing was like reading one long script, it was all tell and no show writing. Example: "Brewster had an older sibling named Jade. Jade was nonbinary, and their pronouns were they and them. They were seventeen and had an active life filled with friends and school and employment." Who writes like that?! And then the teen girl next door saves the day by paying $500 for a go-kart because she just happens to have a check in her pocket. What teens have checks and who carries around blank checks in their pockets? That's some lazy writing. Also I feel like a theme for me this year is TERRIBLE PARENTS and these parents are the absolute worst. The dad leaves for a business trip and accidentally texts his son a photo of him with another woman and then says, I meant to send that to someone else. WHAT?! And then he never comes back and Brewster's mom says, "Oh dad is being just dad and he's taking time to himself." WHAT? And then this terrible father leaves a message for Brewster saying, "I think you can probably guess that I'm not going to make it to that movie thing tomorrow. Too much work. Too far to come. You understand, I'm sure. I'll be home soon, though. To give your mom a break for a bit. You know? She could use some time away too." WHO TALKS LIKE THIS TO THEIR CHILDREN. I was so angry. And annoyed. NO.
October 23, 2022
A Million Views features a kid named Brewster Gaines. He loves posting his videos on YouTube and watching his views go up and up and up, always trying to reach for that seven digit number: one million views. However, his videos have always been a little underfunded or more accurately, unfunded. He has never quite gotten there. However, when one of his actor's friends is ready to pour $5,000 into a five minute trailer for a movie that doesn’t exist, Brewster takes up the challenge. Can Brewster and his team finally get a million views? Or will it all go down in shambles?
Opinion:
A Million Views is a great book about filmmaking. There are so many things that I enjoyed about this book. The first is the pacing. The story was always moving at a pace that kept the reader’s attention. The second is the plot. The story was so exciting with many plot twists. Finally, I feel that there are many lonely children who could relate to this book and to Brewster. This is because the Brewster family rarely ever sees or talks to each other, almost never doing anything as a family. Brewster also does not have many friends.
In short, A Million Views is a amazing book about filmmaking. I give this book a 5 out of 5 and would recommend it to anyone 11-15. Go give this book a read!
Opinion:
A Million Views is a great book about filmmaking. There are so many things that I enjoyed about this book. The first is the pacing. The story was always moving at a pace that kept the reader’s attention. The second is the plot. The story was so exciting with many plot twists. Finally, I feel that there are many lonely children who could relate to this book and to Brewster. This is because the Brewster family rarely ever sees or talks to each other, almost never doing anything as a family. Brewster also does not have many friends.
In short, A Million Views is a amazing book about filmmaking. I give this book a 5 out of 5 and would recommend it to anyone 11-15. Go give this book a read!
November 22, 2024
Brewster wants to finally make a 10-second video that hits a million views online, so he enlists the new girl that everyone seems to like. What starts as a video of someone falling into a hole quickly snowballs out of control with more students joining the cast and crew and the plan expands to be a 2-minute trailer for a movie that they will make once the video goes viral. They've got about 2 weeks and $5000 to make it happen. Some of the side plots and side characters felt like they were thrown in to offer some minimal diversity and lessons that just fell flat and didactic. Definitely for the kids who want to go viral on YouTube/TikTok.
November 16, 2022
In a world where disrespect seems to prevail, the author brings to us a group of endearing school friends who join to pursue a common goal. A lesson in finding what is best in every individual and accepting weaknesses. As a bonus, one learns about the technicalities of movie making. Reading this made me 10 years old again.
Read
April 5, 2025I couldn’t finish it. I wanted to like it because so many of my students want to be YouTubers, but I just couldn’t get into it. There’s one character that seems to have been added just to check a box. The parents are awful, including a father who is having an extramarital affair (maybe he’s not…I didn’t get that far).
I can’t recommend this book.
I can’t recommend this book.
March 1, 2023
Brewster dreams of creating the next viral video and he enlists schoolmate Carly to help film his latest creation. The next thing he knows, he has a full production crew helping with scripting, casting, filming, costumes, special effects, and more. A story about friends and family.
January 3, 2025
It was an such a wonderful book.As a Romanian,this was the first serious book in English,and I understood everything.
The plot was amazing,so were the characters,who were very well created.
I recommend this book for today's teenagers.
From me it has 5️⃣⭐
The plot was amazing,so were the characters,who were very well created.
I recommend this book for today's teenagers.
From me it has 5️⃣⭐
January 3, 2023
This was great but needs details because we are in the 21st centery and girls no longer help with dinner. There is no such thing now. Just a little more female power would be appreciated.
January 2, 2024
Great choice for kiddos who want to be Youtube stars!
April 3, 2024
I did not like the ending. I like the way it started though
August 3, 2024
A tale of what happens when we accept others into our lives.
January 8, 2024
It was amazing!
March 2, 2024
A Million Views is a quirky character-driven story about filmmaking, the value of friendships, and discovering what really matters in life. It also underscores the importance of community and how important it is for kids — even certified loners — to have a sense of belonging. Kids who dream of making it big as YouTubers or those who love the intricacies of filmmaking, funny stories, and books about unlikely friendships will love this one.
Full review: https://readingmiddlegrade.com/a-mill...
Full review: https://readingmiddlegrade.com/a-mill...
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