Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King by Harry Travaldwyn

 

If you like witty banter or musical theatre or or a sweet, awkward rom com, this is the book for you. Patrick is a 16-year-old British boy whose goal is to get people to call him "Patch" and to find a boyfriend in time for prom. In this charming and very funny coming of age story Patch navigates crushes on the new boys in school, broken friendships, and the everyday struggles of being a teenage theatre kid. Although it's billed as a romance, friendships play a major role in the story. It's lighthearted and fun and very chaste (no problems having this in a middle school library). Kids who love Heartstopper will be a natural audience, but readers wanting humor and realistic stories about friendship will also find much to love here. Highly recommended for 7th-10th grade readers. A delightful story!

A Scar Like a River by Lisa Graff

 

Fallon has a long scar on her face and a deep secret that she has kept since she was very young. She's now 13 years old and enjoying her first lead role in a school musical, but nothing is going smoothly for Fallon in 7th grade. The death of her uncle sets her off on a journey of facing the trauma that she has lived with since she was five years old. As she gathers the courage to speaks up about the negative messages in the school musical, she also gathers the courage to go to therapy and to speak up about a much bigger issue involving family secrets, her uncle, and sexual abuse. This carefully crafted book has a gentle tone, but deals with sensitive topics. Students should know going in that they will encounter difficult issues and a story about resilience and healing in a solidly middle grade package. Recommended for middle school students, especially those who like reading realistic books about tough topics. 

The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez

 Yulieta Lopez should have gotten the lead in the school play. But the role goes to a white girl whose looks fit the character in the traditional play that the theatre teacher chose. Yuli longs to leave her Texas town and have a career in theatre, and she knows that brown skinned Latina girls like her don't get a lot of chances, so she hesitates to speak up about the racism she is experiencing. But she finds that she has to speak up when all of the books are removed from her favorite teacher's classroom, and this is the one classroom in the whole school where books by Black, brown, and LGBTQ authors are represented. Yuli takes her love of acting and her anger over book banning and realizes that she has the power to create her own kind of theatre to raise awareness about the racism she sees in her school. This novel in verse shows a teen's awakening to her own power, and her stumbling toward finding ways to make her point without hurting other people in the process. The protagonist is a junior in high school, and the story feels right for 8th-10th graders, but younger students could also get inspiration from this empowering story. It does not have the complexity and poetic brilliance of Elizabeth Acevedo's novels, but could definitely be recommended for readers who love her work.  

Twelfth by Janet Key

 

If ea ever dreamed of going to theatre camp this may be the book for you. Maren is a 12-year-old who is reluctantly sent to a summer camp in the woods that her sister attended for many years. Maren isn't as outgoing or theatrical as her sister, but she becomes involved in a mystery at the camp that has her delving into Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the history of the camp, and a long-ago story of a woman who longed for a career as a Hollywood director. It's a mystery with a chain of clues that should lead to a valuable ring that might save the camp from bankruptcy. Maren and a couple of new friends are decoding clues from the Shakespeare play they are producing that send them all over the camp (and force them to avoid camp counselors at all costs). As you would expect at theatre camp, there are kids with a variety of gender identities and precocious teenagers who recite Shakespeare. This book's target audience is definitely theatre kids and readers who enjoy intricate puzzle mysteries. The clues and connections to Shakespeare's Twelfth Night sometimes went over my head, but smart theatre kids will likely devour this mystery.  

George by Alex Gino

George knows that she is a girl, but the world sees her as a boy. Her fourth grade class is reading Charlotte's Web, and what she wants more than anything is to play the wise, kind spider in the school play. But no one, not his brother, his mom, the bullies at school, or his teacher are making things easy for her. The star of this book is George's best friend Kelly, who is accepting and guileless and courageous. She shows that one person can make a world of difference to someone in need. George's journey to becoming who she needs to be is satisfying and sweet and will inspire empathy and hope. Recommended for elementary and middle school students everywhere.

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

This graphic novel is a must-read for middle schoolers who are into theater. Raina Telgemeier already has many fans of her first book, Smile, and this is another look at the joys and heartaches of being in middle school. Callie, a 7th grader, loves working on the stage crew for her school's drama department. She's a bit unlucky in love but a real go-getter with lots of talent. The plot centers around the school musical and the middle schoolers who make up the cast and crew. Callie is designing sets and creating a functional cannon for the stage while juggling friendships and crushes and learning to accept people as they are. Two things I really appreciated about this book were that Callie's interests and talents were what mattered in the end—not what boy she ended up with. I also appreciated the honest and accepting attitude toward the gay characters in the story. While Smile was aimed at a slightly younger audience, I would recommend Drama to 6th-8th graders.