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How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days
'How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days' is the story of what happens when 11-year-old Hayley Whelan tries to bring her horror-movie vision to the big-screen over the summer holidays.
Friendships will be tested, the fake blood will flow, and the snacks budget will be well and truly blown in this wonderful, heart-warming reel of contemporary Aussie MG.
Friendships will be tested, the fake blood will flow, and the snacks budget will be well and truly blown in this wonderful, heart-warming reel of contemporary Aussie MG.
Paperback
First published August 27, 2019
8 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Fiona Hardy
5books28followersFiona Hardy is a bookseller (and was in fact shortlisted for ABA Young Bookseller of the Year in 2017). She is a reviewer published in Books+Publishing, The Big Issue, and Readings Monthly, and was a committee member of the Australian Crime Writers Association, which organises the Ned Kelly Awards. Her short fiction has been published in The Big Issue Fiction Edition 2017, Gargouille, and other journals; her short story 'Green Thumbs' won the 2024 Scarlet Stiletto HQ Best Thriller Prize.
Her first book, 'How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days', was longlisted for the ABIA and Indie Book Awards, and was a CBCA Notable Book for 2020. Her second book, 'How to Write the Soundtrack to Your Life', won the 2021 Children's Peace Literature Award.
Her first book, 'How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days', was longlisted for the ABIA and Indie Book Awards, and was a CBCA Notable Book for 2020. Her second book, 'How to Write the Soundtrack to Your Life', won the 2021 Children's Peace Literature Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 20, 2024
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2019
Trigger warnings: death of a grandparent (in the past), grief, bullying, hospitalisation of a sibling.
Well this was generally delightful. I haven't read nearly enough middle grade this year, and this one was definitely a solid addition to my middle grade reading for 2019. Hayley's obsessed with movies and desperately wants to make movies when she grows up. So when her parents use money from her grandmother's will to buy Hayley a video camera, she decides to spend the rest of her summer holidays making the horror movie she's always dreamed of.
This was a lot of fun, and I had a blast reading it. The characters were fabulous, I loved how present Hayley's family was, and there was a surprising amount of diversity among the characters for a middle grade book. There was also a healthy dose of Feels in here that I didn't anticipate, and I loved that it features a mixture of old and new movies.
Also, Jennifer and her orange obsession was delightful from start to finish.
Well this was generally delightful. I haven't read nearly enough middle grade this year, and this one was definitely a solid addition to my middle grade reading for 2019. Hayley's obsessed with movies and desperately wants to make movies when she grows up. So when her parents use money from her grandmother's will to buy Hayley a video camera, she decides to spend the rest of her summer holidays making the horror movie she's always dreamed of.
This was a lot of fun, and I had a blast reading it. The characters were fabulous, I loved how present Hayley's family was, and there was a surprising amount of diversity among the characters for a middle grade book. There was also a healthy dose of Feels in here that I didn't anticipate, and I loved that it features a mixture of old and new movies.
Also, Jennifer and her orange obsession was delightful from start to finish.
February 4, 2020
I always try and step back from reviewing my author's books until the dust has settled a little bit and it's had room to breathe.
This book is very close to me, both because it's beautiful in itself and it came to me so lovingly - when my friend Adele told me I'd be sure to *love* this manuscript that had been shortlisted in the Text Prize, and was all about a young, budding filmmaker. Well - Adele knew me to a tee and I read 'How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days' (once called 'Rosebud') and had such a great time rooting for Hayley Whelan and her no-nonsense business-shorts.
This is a very special book with a young woman leading a creative crew to her artistic vision that's also her working through grief ... it's so very spectacular and wonderful and I want to press it into absolutely everyone's hands.
Fiona is an author who is going to be around for a while, and I'm so excited for all the books she's got coming.
This book is very close to me, both because it's beautiful in itself and it came to me so lovingly - when my friend Adele told me I'd be sure to *love* this manuscript that had been shortlisted in the Text Prize, and was all about a young, budding filmmaker. Well - Adele knew me to a tee and I read 'How to Make a Movie in Twelve Days' (once called 'Rosebud') and had such a great time rooting for Hayley Whelan and her no-nonsense business-shorts.
This is a very special book with a young woman leading a creative crew to her artistic vision that's also her working through grief ... it's so very spectacular and wonderful and I want to press it into absolutely everyone's hands.
Fiona is an author who is going to be around for a while, and I'm so excited for all the books she's got coming.
Read
October 22, 2019This book was an absolute delight from start to finish. Beautifully drawn characters and some proper belly laughs throughout.
October 24, 2019
Heartwarming and fun
September 26, 2020
Jennifer has to be the most bizarre character I've ever read.
October 22, 2019
WONDERFUL. JOYOUS. Soooooooooooo AUSTRALIAN! (Maybe the best middle grade I've read since I was middle grade).
November 9, 2019
More like this please. Delightfully funny with some great life lessons thrown in. Loved it.
November 12, 2019
3.5 stars actually
This book has the best crafted opening chapter I’ve read in a long time. From there it settles into a pleasant middle grade novel with enough touches of brilliance to make up for a few problematic areas.
Eleven-year-old Hayley is obsessed with films and wants to be a director. She and her grandmother were writing the script for a horror film about a killer rose bush, which her grandmother was also going to star in, when she unexpectedly died. Hayley is devastated. But part of Hayley’s inheritance is a brand new video camera so that she can start making her movie. Hayley suggests to her mother that they throw a party to celebrate her grandmother’s life and screen the movie at it. The only date they can get at the function hall leaves Hayley just twelve days to film all the scenes, edit them together and finalise the movie. Thus the title of the book.
Hayley has prepared well though. It’s the summer holidays, she has roped in friends and acquaintances to act, do special effects and write the score, and she has hired a real actor from her school to play the main role (even though Rissa is friends with jerkjacks, as Hayley refers to them). But things start going wrong almost immediately. A key goes missing, completed footage is deleted, crew members receive instructions to meet in the wrong locations, the composer’s instrument is sabotaged, there are even injuries. Somebody clearly doesn’t want this movie to be made. Dun dun dun!
First, the positives. There are some wonderfully drawn characters. There’s Theo, who has a beautiful rose bush in front of his house and lets Hayley use it as a primary filming location. His speaking style must have been very difficult to write because it was unique as well as being great to read. And there’s Jennifer, Hayley’s five-year-old sister. She has a crucial role in the film, being attacked and killed by the rose bush, she’s obsessed with oranges and she comes out with gems like, “They’re not farts, I am releasing ideas.�
It’s also a very modern setting. Hayley’s mum works and her dad stays at home and looks after the kids. Hayley’s grandmother’s best friend, Nannabel, has a podcast. Hayley’s dad edits out all the nasty bits in M-rated films so the kids can watch truncated versions of movies like Kill Bill.
And I know book reviews are supposed to focus on the story but the cover design is stunning and I think Jess Racklyeft has more than earned a mention for her efforts.
Now for� not the negatives but the things that perhaps didn’t work as well as they could have. If you don’t like movies, then you’re probably going to be lost from the first chapter because this book starts dropping film names from the second page and doesn’t stop until you close the back cover. I personally love movies so it wasn’t a problem for me but a lot of the references are very old and since the target audience of this book is ten-year-olds, it could be an issue.
The one thing that really rankled was the fact that Hayley knows movies and plot lines like the back of her hand but seemed to dive head first into cliché after cliché after cliché. Things are going wrong but instead of talking to her parents about it, she insists she’s fine and soldiers on alone. She thinks her friends are turning on her, so she turns on them instead of asking them what’s really going on and later finds out it was all a misunderstanding. She literally talks about how writers make people in movies do silly things to create conflict and that’s exactly what Hardy has done to her.
In a former iteration, this novel was shortlisted for the 2016 Text Prize. It didn’t win and it’s gone through several rewrites to get it to this stage, which is pretty good. But I actually think it has great potential to be made into a movie itself to get it to a state of near perfection. It’s a very visual story and reading about the movie being made really made me want to see the finished product. Plus being able to include little clips of all the movies that get mentioned would be a fantastic way of introducing the next generation to classic films.
In a word: charming.
This book has the best crafted opening chapter I’ve read in a long time. From there it settles into a pleasant middle grade novel with enough touches of brilliance to make up for a few problematic areas.
Eleven-year-old Hayley is obsessed with films and wants to be a director. She and her grandmother were writing the script for a horror film about a killer rose bush, which her grandmother was also going to star in, when she unexpectedly died. Hayley is devastated. But part of Hayley’s inheritance is a brand new video camera so that she can start making her movie. Hayley suggests to her mother that they throw a party to celebrate her grandmother’s life and screen the movie at it. The only date they can get at the function hall leaves Hayley just twelve days to film all the scenes, edit them together and finalise the movie. Thus the title of the book.
Hayley has prepared well though. It’s the summer holidays, she has roped in friends and acquaintances to act, do special effects and write the score, and she has hired a real actor from her school to play the main role (even though Rissa is friends with jerkjacks, as Hayley refers to them). But things start going wrong almost immediately. A key goes missing, completed footage is deleted, crew members receive instructions to meet in the wrong locations, the composer’s instrument is sabotaged, there are even injuries. Somebody clearly doesn’t want this movie to be made. Dun dun dun!
First, the positives. There are some wonderfully drawn characters. There’s Theo, who has a beautiful rose bush in front of his house and lets Hayley use it as a primary filming location. His speaking style must have been very difficult to write because it was unique as well as being great to read. And there’s Jennifer, Hayley’s five-year-old sister. She has a crucial role in the film, being attacked and killed by the rose bush, she’s obsessed with oranges and she comes out with gems like, “They’re not farts, I am releasing ideas.�
It’s also a very modern setting. Hayley’s mum works and her dad stays at home and looks after the kids. Hayley’s grandmother’s best friend, Nannabel, has a podcast. Hayley’s dad edits out all the nasty bits in M-rated films so the kids can watch truncated versions of movies like Kill Bill.
And I know book reviews are supposed to focus on the story but the cover design is stunning and I think Jess Racklyeft has more than earned a mention for her efforts.
Now for� not the negatives but the things that perhaps didn’t work as well as they could have. If you don’t like movies, then you’re probably going to be lost from the first chapter because this book starts dropping film names from the second page and doesn’t stop until you close the back cover. I personally love movies so it wasn’t a problem for me but a lot of the references are very old and since the target audience of this book is ten-year-olds, it could be an issue.
The one thing that really rankled was the fact that Hayley knows movies and plot lines like the back of her hand but seemed to dive head first into cliché after cliché after cliché. Things are going wrong but instead of talking to her parents about it, she insists she’s fine and soldiers on alone. She thinks her friends are turning on her, so she turns on them instead of asking them what’s really going on and later finds out it was all a misunderstanding. She literally talks about how writers make people in movies do silly things to create conflict and that’s exactly what Hardy has done to her.
In a former iteration, this novel was shortlisted for the 2016 Text Prize. It didn’t win and it’s gone through several rewrites to get it to this stage, which is pretty good. But I actually think it has great potential to be made into a movie itself to get it to a state of near perfection. It’s a very visual story and reading about the movie being made really made me want to see the finished product. Plus being able to include little clips of all the movies that get mentioned would be a fantastic way of introducing the next generation to classic films.
In a word: charming.
September 9, 2019
…something had shifted in my brain. Some little voice that said, don’t give up. Not Grandma’s voice � she would’ve been off for a gin and tonic forty-two minutes ago � but Director Hayley’s voice, pushing every other voice out of the way.
11 year-old Hayley Whelan has spent her whole life dreaming of making a horror movie, with her grandmother in a starring role. After her grandmother passes away, Hayley receives an inheritance to purchase a professional video camera. Her friends are signed on as cast and crew, her 15-year old brother is on-hand to offer un/wanted advice, and her 5-year old sister is eager to succumb to a bloody demise, but before production even begins strange things start happening. Someone is sabotaging Hayley’s movie. But who? And why? Can Hayley finish the movie in time for the premiere?
How to Make a Movie in 12 Daysis an uplifting middle grade novel (suitable for 9+) about the importance of family and friends, learning resilience and following your dreams. I could spend forever following the lives of the Whelan family. Hayley is driven and ambitious and also a little bit scared of not being able to finish her film. Her parents are supportive, while also trying to maintain boundaries in order to preserve the sanity of everyone in the house. 15 year-old Lucas is preoccupied with sleep and dating and bemoaning all the attention his sister is getting because of her film, but he also can’t help himself in wanting to be a part of the process. Jennifer is…priceless.
The absence of Hayley’s Grandma is felt throughout, but without there being a sense of overwhelming grief. Her loss is mourned, but her life is celebrated. The reader gains insight into Grandma through the physicality of the house, and the slew of sayings different family members drop throughout the novel � my favourite being when Jennifer announces “a woman cannot be contained by a man�.
How to Make a Movie in 12 Daysexplores a range of issues, including sexuality and gender roles, without giving a sense of author intrusion or forcefulness. At its heart, this is a book about the importance of family and friends, which is demonstrated through the shared love of movies and film-making. A beautiful book, filled with heart (and oranges).
11 year-old Hayley Whelan has spent her whole life dreaming of making a horror movie, with her grandmother in a starring role. After her grandmother passes away, Hayley receives an inheritance to purchase a professional video camera. Her friends are signed on as cast and crew, her 15-year old brother is on-hand to offer un/wanted advice, and her 5-year old sister is eager to succumb to a bloody demise, but before production even begins strange things start happening. Someone is sabotaging Hayley’s movie. But who? And why? Can Hayley finish the movie in time for the premiere?
How to Make a Movie in 12 Daysis an uplifting middle grade novel (suitable for 9+) about the importance of family and friends, learning resilience and following your dreams. I could spend forever following the lives of the Whelan family. Hayley is driven and ambitious and also a little bit scared of not being able to finish her film. Her parents are supportive, while also trying to maintain boundaries in order to preserve the sanity of everyone in the house. 15 year-old Lucas is preoccupied with sleep and dating and bemoaning all the attention his sister is getting because of her film, but he also can’t help himself in wanting to be a part of the process. Jennifer is…priceless.
The absence of Hayley’s Grandma is felt throughout, but without there being a sense of overwhelming grief. Her loss is mourned, but her life is celebrated. The reader gains insight into Grandma through the physicality of the house, and the slew of sayings different family members drop throughout the novel � my favourite being when Jennifer announces “a woman cannot be contained by a man�.
How to Make a Movie in 12 Daysexplores a range of issues, including sexuality and gender roles, without giving a sense of author intrusion or forcefulness. At its heart, this is a book about the importance of family and friends, which is demonstrated through the shared love of movies and film-making. A beautiful book, filled with heart (and oranges).
June 1, 2020
Hayley dreams of making films. Her Grandmother dreamed of making a film with her. Grandma’s death changed all that.
Now Hayley wants to make a film to honour her grandmother. She calls on all her friends who have been hearing about the planned movie all year.
Hayley’s long-term friend Pilar and her extended social group all take an active part in the film making. Pilar was to be the leading actor but pulls out. She has never been comfortable acting. Hayley seeks out ‘nasty� Rissa, who can act, to be the leading lady.
The film making begins and all looks good. Then things start going awry; a key is lost, bullies discover where they are filming, video takes deleted and actors injured and hospitalised. Who is behind this? Is it sabotage?
Hayley fights with all the wrong people. Can she fix it? Will the film get made at all?
I enjoyed the detail about the film making. That will capture children’s interest. It gives a focus other than the interpersonal conflict and the resolution will grab the reader.
Recommended for 10+ confident readers.
Now Hayley wants to make a film to honour her grandmother. She calls on all her friends who have been hearing about the planned movie all year.
Hayley’s long-term friend Pilar and her extended social group all take an active part in the film making. Pilar was to be the leading actor but pulls out. She has never been comfortable acting. Hayley seeks out ‘nasty� Rissa, who can act, to be the leading lady.
The film making begins and all looks good. Then things start going awry; a key is lost, bullies discover where they are filming, video takes deleted and actors injured and hospitalised. Who is behind this? Is it sabotage?
Hayley fights with all the wrong people. Can she fix it? Will the film get made at all?
I enjoyed the detail about the film making. That will capture children’s interest. It gives a focus other than the interpersonal conflict and the resolution will grab the reader.
Recommended for 10+ confident readers.
March 10, 2020
I wanted to give this book 5 stars because it had me smiling and captured from the middle to the end and I really like the grey pages at the end with the holiday movie watch list but it took me a bit to get over the fine compact font in a middle grade piece of literature (I know there are a few but makes it harder to sell!) and I Googled ‘grandadrents� because it was in there twice and had me second guessing that there couldn’t be the same spelling mistake twice ... a couple of other missed edits in there too ... but I did like the suspense around the mysterious sabotage taking place and that did end up capturing me to the point of not being able to put it down till the end ... but it took a little while to hook me in.
August 9, 2022
Absolutely adored that.
All lovely characters, a protagonist that I completely supported and wanted to protect even when she was terribly wrong, an utterly gripping plot that was still low stakes enough to not hurt my heart but also keep me reading til 2am on a schoolnight, such great humour that had me snorting and guffawing a few times, and film references that made me so damned happy until they culminated in Ida Lupino mentions that made me combust with joy.
Also, really good lowkey depiction of an asexual character in a way that totally normalises them and doesn’t make it an Issue. And excellent inclusion of Aboriginal characters with a little bit of culture.
It’s such a good-hearted book, a delight all around. Defs gunna check out Fiona Hardy’s other novels.
All lovely characters, a protagonist that I completely supported and wanted to protect even when she was terribly wrong, an utterly gripping plot that was still low stakes enough to not hurt my heart but also keep me reading til 2am on a schoolnight, such great humour that had me snorting and guffawing a few times, and film references that made me so damned happy until they culminated in Ida Lupino mentions that made me combust with joy.
Also, really good lowkey depiction of an asexual character in a way that totally normalises them and doesn’t make it an Issue. And excellent inclusion of Aboriginal characters with a little bit of culture.
It’s such a good-hearted book, a delight all around. Defs gunna check out Fiona Hardy’s other novels.
April 27, 2021
Just completed this with my 11 and 7 year olds. We all loved it and were gripped to the end. We laughed (Jennifer quotes are now a big thing in our house "I didn't fart, I was releasing a thought"), we cried (ok well, it was mostly me during Grandma's memorial scene) and we were very inspired (and are moving on to the suggested films list at the end of the book).
The writing was excellent, the characters realistic, the pace was great. We immediately bought another book by the same author and are looking forward to it.
The writing was excellent, the characters realistic, the pace was great. We immediately bought another book by the same author and are looking forward to it.
January 10, 2021
This book was really lovely to read. It would appeal to creative students who enjoy movies & fancy themselves as budding movie directors. Main character Hayley makes a movie to honour her grandmother. Dramas along the way of course, which threaten the short time period they have, but Hayley is a strong character who perseveres through the challenges. A beautiful cover to the book too! Target age is 11 -14 years.
October 30, 2019
I loved this. I really, really loved this. I picked it up at the Sydney airport last weekend, and it has brought me so much joy. This is funny; I laughed out loud MANY times. This has all the feels; I felt everything. This has resilience; not everything goes to plan, but it's all about how you bounce back. Honestly, I loved this.
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November 23, 2020What a wonderful read! It's always a thought when I pick up a book that I've heard so many great things about ... Will I like it? Well, for this one? Absolutely yes!
A fab book about friends and family, mistakes and movies. Several absolute laugh out loud moment, all due to awesome character banter and voice. And such a great twist!
A fab book about friends and family, mistakes and movies. Several absolute laugh out loud moment, all due to awesome character banter and voice. And such a great twist!
December 6, 2020
Fiona Hardy has a whole Middle Grade series about kids living their artistic passions in primary school - first book is about a budding film-director, second is a song-writer and I think the (2021 forthcoming) third book may be about a boy who wants to be a ballet dancer more than a football player ...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 20, 2022
This is an absolutely amazing book for middle schoolers! It has a mix of everything which is great and I absolutely love it! This book is about a girl who has an ambition to create a movie for her grandmother and when she recieves a video camera she gets straight to filming but many problems cross her path. Definitely reccomend!
March 6, 2025
Movie making & the ups and downs of friendship are starring themes in this middle grade novel. Also loved getting to know Hayley’s grandma through so many descriptive memories. :-)
- - -
“I realized she was just a person who had lost someone they loved.�
“It was the end. But� it was also just beginning.�
- - -
“I realized she was just a person who had lost someone they loved.�
“It was the end. But� it was also just beginning.�
June 16, 2020
Inspiring for would be movie makers. A story of friendship and family. Hayley comes from a family who treasure and watch endless movies, she also wants to make a movie, one which will honour her rebellious but dead grandmother. Will her friends help her or hinder her?
Want to read
December 6, 2019I have not read this book yet but I will 💯 percent! Some of my best friends have read it and they say that it's amazing! And that I neeeeeed to read it😀😃😄😁😆
March 13, 2020
This was a beautiful book, great characters and a really good laugh!
March 21, 2020
Love ❤️ love this book
August 30, 2020
Super cute, funny, and charming: thumbs up to this contemporary very Aussie #LoveOzMG.
Read
September 4, 2020DNF. This is no reflection on the story at all, just the wrong time for me. In fact, some of the students I work with are cross I didn’t finish it.
September 5, 2020
Very inspirational story about following your dreams and recognising true friendship.
April 16, 2021
Absolutely incredible book. Witty, relatable and well written
November 18, 2021
This book was awesome, I loved how everyone worked together to make the movie for the grandmas party and by the end they were all friends.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2021
Premier's Reading Challenge yr5-6. Would be suitable for a book club novel, literature circle or class text. Planning on writing a Book Trailer lesson for it.
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