Not Exactly Nashville

In her first novel, Kuhn shapes a sluggish plot--with an overdose of minutiae about clothing and menus--that follows the lives of two best friends the summer before they enter middle school. Aspiring country crooners, Ellen and Valery are tickled pink to learn about a competition sponsored by their TV idol and country queen: Marna Marshall's First Annual Rising Star Contest. But the process of submitting their entry tape is slow going--for the bickering friends as well as for readers. Meantime, principal character Ellen fills her endless summer with ""archaeological work"" (digging in her backyard with a spoon), a trip to the mall to help her mother sell craft projects and melodramatic agonizing over her older sister's breakup with her boyfriend. At one point, Ellen blasts Valery for her nonchalance about that couple's love troubles (""You talk a lot about pain and heartache, but you sure don't care when it actually happens!""). The lovelorn gal and her man mend fences, as do Ellen and Valery. But, dang, they don't win the contest. Instead the duo performs at the town's annual Kiwanis cookout, which is absolutely not exactly Nashville. Unfortunately, this novel takes the hoot right out of hootenanny. Ages 7-11. (May)