Short

Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan is the story of a young girl’s summer as a Munchkin and flying monkey in a local production of the musical The Wizard of Oz. Holly Goldberg Sloan is an award-winning children’s author (Counting by 7’s, To Night Owl from Dogfish) as well as a playwright (Angels in the Outfield, Made in America) and director (The Big Green). Published in 2017, Short is a Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) award-winning novel centered on themes of Processing Grief; The Power and Purpose of Theater; and Body Positivity, Discrimination, and Intersectionality.

This guide references the hardcover Penguin Young Readers Group first edition.

Content Warning: This guide includes discussion of racial discrimination, ableism, pet death, and grief.

Plot Summary

Narrator Julia Marks has just started her summer vacation but all she can think about is Ramon, her dog, who died seven weeks ago and left a hole in her life. Julia has two summer goals: finding something new to make her happy and learning to accept her height, which is shorter than average. When her younger brother, Randy, auditions for a local university’s production of The Wizard of Oz, the siblings’ mother makes Julia audition as well as a way for her to get out of the house. Julia doesn’t want to audition and doesn’t think she will get a part anyway, but she goes along with her mother’s plan. A few days later, Julia is surprised to learn that both she and Randy have been cast as Munchkins.

Julia tries to get out of doing the play, even attempting to twist her own ankle, but the first day of rehearsal arrives and soon Julia finds reasons to stay. She meets three little people—Olive, Quincy, and Larry—who have also been cast as Munchkins, and she’s immediately drawn to Olive’s confidence. Shawn Barr is an older Broadway director who has come from out of town to direct the production, and Julia notices that he’s also a shorter man. By the end of the first day of rehearsal, Julia is excited to be part of a play where so many of the cast are short like her.

To memorialize her summer in the theater, Julia decides to keep a scrapbook as her father does with family pictures. Julia makes the first page about Ramon but is too overcome with grief to add more than a few of his hairs. Noticing that all her scrapbook entries are sad, she decides to find something positive for her scrapbook and goes to her neighbor, Mrs. Chang, to ask for flowers. When Julia reluctantly tells Mrs. Chang about the play, Mrs. Chang offers to make her a Munchkin costume. At first, Julia doesn’t want the costume, even hiding from Mrs. Chang when she comes to take measurements; however, when Julia sees the beautifully crafted Munchkin shoes, she is thrilled and wears them to the next rehearsal.

Shawn Barr, who has recently returned to the theater after a fall the previous week, sees Julia’s Munchkin shoes and is so inspired that he promotes Julia to lead Munchkin dancer. This terrifies Julia, who decides she’s going to quit the production, but Olive challenges her to stay in the show and offers to help her learn the steps. Julia and Olive earn additional roles in the production as flying monkeys, and Julia offers to ask Mrs. Chang to make those costumes as well. When Julia asks Mrs. Chang to make the costumes, she agrees, but only if she is also cast as a flying monkey. When Shawn Barr hears this, he initially denies Mrs. Chang because of her age (76). Olive, referencing her own experience with bias in the theater as a little person and a woman of color, defends Mrs. Chang, insisting that she be given the opportunity to audition. Shawn Barr agrees and Mrs. Chang, who Julia comes to learn is a former ballerina, earns the role.

As opening night approaches, tensions among the cast and crew run high, and Julia becomes more nervous about the success of the show. Just as Julia has embraced her height, she learns that she may grow to an average height after all, and she gets upset, wondering what opportunities she might miss out on if she grows too tall. Her relationship with Mrs. Chang deepens, and she learns that Mrs. Chang’s daughter died recently. The two of them share their grief over their losses, and Julia becomes more comfortable telling others about Ramon.

The first performance of the show is excellent apart from the Munchkins, who make several mistakes onstage. The art critic’s review is published the day after the show, and Julia sees that the Munchkins received a negative review. Mrs. Chang drives Julia to Shawn Barr’s motel so that he can encourage her in the face of negative criticism. After their conversation, Julia decides to find joy in the remaining performances. The Munchkins fix their mistakes, and by the end of the three-week run of the show, the performance is flawless.

On closing night, Julia reflects on all she has learned about herself and others through her experience at the theater. She decides to give Shawn Barr her wooden carving of Ramon as a going-away present. Because of her theater experience, Julia has made new friends, overcome her grief, found role models, and learned to use her own voice.