A middle-school girl designs the sets for the school musical while juggling crushes and friendships
Behind the scenes of the school musical
Callie loves the theatre, but she can't sing, so she joins her middle school's stage crew as a set designer. This year the school is putting on a musical, and Callie is determined to make the sets the best the school has ever seen, including a working cannon, even though she has a tiny budget and a crew who know very little about building anything.
Who will enjoy it
Readers aged about nine to fourteen who enjoy funny, warm graphic novels about school, friendship and first crushes.
What you will get
A funny, warm and colourful graphic novel about the backstage chaos of a school musical, with friendships, crushes and a lot of heart.
Drama Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Children’s Books · Graphic novel · School theatre · Friendship
Length
240 pages · ≈ 7 h
More about this book
As rehearsals begin, the drama offstage soon rivals the show itself. Callie meets twin brothers, Justin and Jesse, who join the production, and her feelings become tangled as she works out who likes whom and who is ready to be honest about themselves. Meanwhile, the cast and crew deal with rivalries, missed cues, stage fright and a set that refuses to cooperate.
Raina Telgemeier captures the excitement, embarrassment and friendships of middle school with humour and warmth, and her clear, expressive artwork, coloured by Gurihiru, makes the story easy to follow. The book includes characters who are working out their identities, handled gently and positively, and it celebrates being yourself. It received a Stonewall Honor. The tone is light throughout, and the backstage details will delight anyone who has been involved in a school play.
Funny, warm and charming, a favourite with fans of Smile and Sisters. It is a quick, enjoyable read that many children return to again and again. Readers who have ever helped behind the scenes of a play will recognise every frantic rehearsal. About 240 pages in the Graphix paperback, in full colour.
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid