Callie is a girl who loves theatre. A middle school play called ‘Moon over Mississippi’ was created. Callie wants to be in it, but she can't sing. She decides to work backstage to still be a part of the production. How can Callie be a help to the backstage when she knows nothing about stage props, and will her lack of knowledge prevent the show from going on? This book was hard to put down. The part that I love is that it's a graphic novel and you're able to see the pictures in real time. Callie’s story about friendships, relationships, and learning experiences is an experience for me.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a masterpiece of chaos .After Hamlet’s father is killed by his uncle, Claudius, Hamlet must try and avenge his father’s death. After several secret plots come into play, a lot more people end up dead than Claudius. No one in Hamlet makes the most straightforward choice; all of the characters make emotional, rash decisions.
Kate and Anderson are best friends that do many things together and share many memories together. They both also share many crushes together, but then Matt Olsen, one of their crushes, suddenly shows up at their theatre rehearsals. Their relationship isn’t the only thing at stake.
Elijah Hamilton, the lead singer of his buddies' teen metal band Ride Out, has an image to uphold. But when he's dragged to a local musical, he meets Kristen Cartwright. He knows that she's the powerhouse who can simultaneously save his band and kill his hard rock reputation, so he promises the rest of the band to keep their relationship strictly professional, no matter how hard it is.
I don’t normally recommend books about elementary school kids to teens, but this is an exception. Especially a book about a hot topic in the news: transgender rights. See Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s recent speech here. From the speech, here's a quote that gets me in the feels:
