The Bright Lights series is two books by children's author Linda Chapman. Sophie Tennison is an ordinary girl who wants to be an actress.
In the first book, Bright Lights, Sophie is lucky enough to use her talent to land the main role in a film. She soon discovers that while life as a child actress can be glamorous, there are a lot of drawbacks when you're off set.
In the second book, Centre Stage, Sophie gets a role in a stage musical, but as a child, she has to compete against another team of children to see whether her team or theirs get to star on the opening night, and she becomes worried that her lack of dance skills will let her team down.
Not to be confused with feature film Bright Lights.
These novels contain examples of these tropes:
- Arch-Nemesis: Colette to Samantha. This behaviour spreads to the other principals in the play, to the point that Sophie and Justine's friendship is temporarily destroyed.
- Alpha Bitch: Many examples. Most notably Kelly in the second book, but also Samantha.
- Justine was this at primary school, but she and Sophie end up becoming friends.
- Child Prodigy: Sophie, an ordinary girl with no professional experience in acting, lands the lead role in a theatrical movie. She originally goes in to audition for a role as an extra, then an extra with a speaking part, then as an important supporting role, and finally the lead.
- Cool Big Sis: Jessica to Sophie, most of the time. Averted with Harriet's sister Emily.
- Family Business: Not officially, but Sophie's mother runs a pet-sitting business and everyone in the family helps her care for the animals.
- Girl Posse: Kelly and Justine both have one of these in school.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: This is exactly why it's a bad idea to cross Ally.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Issy often comes off as this. She's very friendly and outgoing towards Sophie and everyone else on the film set, but whispers mean things about Harriet's lack of fashion sense and the house.
- Older Than They Look: Sophie looks very young for an eleven-year-old.
- Shout-Out: The film Sophie stars in as an adaptation of A Little Princess (as Sara Crewe) and the play she stars in is adapted from C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (as Lucy).
