Review by Booklist Review
Melody McIntyre is a stage manager who believes in the curse that haunts her high school theater program and has always put her trust in the annual counter-curses the crew comes up with to keep any theatrical mishaps at bay. Which is why she agrees to hold off on romance until the spring musical is over, especially when her break-up mid-Romeo and Juliet almost ruins the fall play. But when she starts to fall for Odile, the musical's lead actress, Melody begins to question everything she thinks she knows about creating the perfect show. Melody McIntyre's love of theater is entirely infectious, and her story joins other YA novels of stagehand life, including James Tynion's Backstagers series and Lili Wilkinson's Pink (2011) as it explores theater magic from the other side of the stage, with all the challenges, wood glue, and headset drama that comes with it. Tally's latest will instantly hook theater kids as well as readers who've never even heard a track from Les Mis glancing at their drama club sign-up sheet.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Theater people are often superstitious, especially the kids at Beaconville High School, whose drama program's wing is built on the site of a ruined theater and almost certainly cursed. This makes things harder for junior Melody McIntyre, the youngest stage manager in school history, but she's up for it. So after the tech crew decides that more things go wrong when Melody's dating someone, she agrees not to fall in love for the show's duration, even though she's the school's "patron saint of serial monogamy." But when senior Odile Rose, who's already acted in films and television, is cast in the spring musical, she and Mel are immediately attracted to each other. Talley (Music from Another World) divides the story into acts and scenes, studding them with funny tech memos, and has fun portraying the details of running tech, the divide between techies and actors, and the teamwork that theater requires. Mel's efforts to cope with her feelings and stage emergencies make a story that will entertain both true theater geeks and readers who've never considered life onstage or backstage. Ages 14--up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Dec.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up--When the Beaconville High School Performing Arts Department announces Les Misérables as its spring musical, stage manager Mel is ecstatic. However, whenever she becomes involved with anyone during the production of a show, a curse seems to plague the performance. So when her fellow techies suggest that she refrain from any romantic entanglements as they stage the musical, Mel finds herself in a bind, as she is attracted to Odile Rose. Only when tech director Will explains the foolishness of believing in curses does Mel resist peer pressure and stage a dramatic "promposal" at the opening night curtain call, thereby publicly declaring her relationship with her actress girlfriend. Drama abounds--onstage and off--in this spirited tale of high school love and angst. As in Talley's other novels, gay and bi relationships are accepted as "just part of life" by kids and adults (Mel has two dads, Will is openly gay), allowing the characters to freely discuss their romantic inclinations without backlash, and ethnic and racial diversity is the norm (Mel and Odile are white, Will is Black, and other characters are of various backgrounds). Theatrical jargon is generally explained in context, although "catwalk" is misidentified as a "narrow stretch of wire." References to Broadway shows, theatrical traditions, and professional-level rehearsal procedures abound, especially in the "Stage Management notes" following each chapter--intriguing for aficionados and instructive for neophytes. The fast-paced dialogue propels the plot to a predictable but satisfying finale. VERDICT An ultra-modern fiesta of theatrical joie de vivre for high school readers.--Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
When the crew tells their stage manager, Melody, that her dating life triggers a theater curse, she attempts to avoid relationships. Beaconville High School's performing arts department believes in curses. After two catastrophic performances of Macbeth, including one in 1906 that burned down the whole building, the cast and crew strictly follow all standard theater superstitions. They also decide to create a new superstition for each show. During Mel's first full show as stage manager, everything is going well until her girlfriend publicly dumps her midplay. Embarrassed but committed to the process because she'll do anything to make sure the spring musical goes off without a hitch, Mel agrees that the superstition for Les Misérables will be her refraining from falling in love. And she's feeling confident in her ability to stay single until she begins talking to Odile, one of the stars of the show. Mel is bisexual, Odile is questioning her identity but knows she is queer; both are White. The book is structured like a play with a prologue, scenes, and an epilogue, and the pacing is well done with a good mix of humor and romance. The sheer volume of rules that are described as being "the first rule of theater" is both confusing and amusing, but theater jargon is well explained in context, so even nontechs can enjoy this novel. A love letter to high school theater. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
