Drama

Publishers Weekly

Seventh-grader Callie has been in love with the stage ever since she saw Les Miz when she was younger. Since her singing skills leave much to be desired, she’s forged a place for herself at the drama club as the set decorator. While her love for the stage is clear, which boy she loves is a different matter. Is it Greg, the handsome eighth-grade jock who trifled with her while on a break from his diva girlfriend, Bonnie? Or Justin, the cute boy who is playing the comic relief in the middle school production of Moon over Mississippi?—who happens to be gay. Or what about his twin brother, Jesse, who isn’t gay and is helping Callie with set decorating? The author follows up her award-winning graphic novel Smile with another dead-on look at the confusing world of middle school, sweetly capturing all the drama swirling around the school production: from jealousies and misunderstandings to the last-minute surprise stage substitution that may not make a star, but helps settle who likes who. Telgemeier’s manga-infused art has some moments of heartache, but the generally cheerful and affirming story should be eagerly devoured by her many fans. Ages 10-14. (Sept.)

VOYA - Marla Unruh

Excited drama students eagerly volunteer for stage crew slots in their middle school's musical. Among them, Callie is thrilled to be designing the sets. She has already read the play and is planning her magnum opus, a pretend cannon that really fires a burst of confetti with a loud boom. Making it work turns out to be quite a challenge right up to the last minute. She puts her unrequited crush on Greg out of the way and delves into her set-building. She's not the only one struggling with love issues. Other hard-working members of the crew and cast wonder if they will have partners for the eighth-grade formal. Then last-minute crises threaten to sink the production and they must call on their strengths to save the play. Charmingly told, this novel in words and pictures draws the reader in. Text and graphics complement each other well—both are essential to the story—and the characters ring true. Although the production they mount seems a bit elaborate for middle school, the challenges they face are realistic: dealing with budget, costumes that do not fit, a male lead who gets sick, a female lead who is dumped by her boyfriend right before the last performance. This reviewer was a little surprised at how affecting a graphic novel can be, but middle school readers and young teens will not be surprised at all. Reviewer: Marla Unruh

Children's Literature

Callie is a seventh grade theatre geek. She eats, sleeps, breathes the theatre and has found a welcome home in Eucalyptus Middle School's drama department. Her forte is stagecraft, since her singing is a bit squeaky. She doesn't care, just so long as she is planting her thespian roots. Enter Greg, Callie's crush. She mistakes his attention for "romantic attention" and pursues him even though he has started avoiding her. She doesn't have a ton of free time to worry about this because her middle school's musical production has been announced, Moon over Mississippi. All her attention turns to creating Broadway style sets, as well as a working cannon. Well, most of her attention, because Justin and Jesse, twin hotties have joined the cast and crew and both have befriended Callie. Now she doesn't know who she likes, plus, it seems like one or both of them may have crushes elsewhere. Drama is filled with drama and illustrated like a graphic play complete with overtures, intermissions and final curtains. If you love the theatre you will love this homage to everything theatrical. I especially enjoyed the behind the scenes moments that are ever present when putting a play together. All the characters that you might find in and around a play are represented from Loren, the stage manager, and Liz, the costumer/Callie's best friend, to Matt, the spotlight operator and Bonnie, Greg's ex-girlfriend who gets the lead role of Maybelle and is a constant clunker note in Callie's day to day production. The illustrations are perfect and absorb and represent every moment that goes into a production. Bravo! Reviewer: Toni Jourdan

School Library Journal

Gr 5–8—Callie has ambitious plans for her school's production of Moon Over Mississippi. She has more to contend with than the logistics of building a working stage cannon, though, including the tension between stage crew and actors and her confusion about her new friend, Jesse. Does he like her, or is he gay like his twin brother? Telgemeier deftly portrays the ambiguity of sexual identity in the middle-school years in a story that simultaneously appeals to that audience. Callie is a strong character, confident in her ability as an artist and warm and friendly to her peers. She and her fellow students grin frequently, to the point of seeming unrealistically well adjusted. More often, however, Telgemeier is just showing the best side of teens. "Keep it professional," the stage crew head tells the group, and they do. The full-color cartoon-style illustrations are graceful, assured, and, along with the twists and turns of the plot, guarantee an entertaining and enlightening read.—Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY

The New York Times Book Review

Telgemeier's work is part of a boom in smart, wholesome comics for young people, but unlike most next-level graphic novels for this age range…Telgemeier offers familiar home and school situations rather than fantastical cow races and walking houses. In her stories, relatable girls make the first move, add and shed friends according to a niceness-ocracy, and roll with setbacks…The Horatio Alger of graphic novelists, Telgemeier draws up-by-their-book-bags characters who value hard work and seize a chance that has nothing to do with looks or even with love. While capable of boy craziness, they concentrate on friendship and creative fulfillment. The better Telgemeier's books sell, the less hand-wringing to do over the next generation. If this is what the youth of America are into, the kids are all right.
—Ada Calhoun

From the Publisher

"Callie has ambitious plans for her school’s production of Moon Over Mississippi. She has more to contend with than the logistics of building a working stage cannon, though, including the tension between stage crew and actors and her confusion about her new friend, Jesse. Does he like her, or is he gay like his twin brother? Telgemeier deftly portrays the ambiguity of sexual identity in the middle-school years in a story that simultaneously appeals to that audience. Callie is a strong character, confident in her ability as an artist and warm and friendly to her peers. She and her fellow students grin frequently, to the point of seeming unrealistically well adjusted. More often, however, Telgemeier is just showing the best side of teens. “Keep it professional,” the stage crew head tells the group, and they do. The full-color cartoon-style illustrations are graceful, assured, and, along with the twists and turns of the plot, guarantee an entertaining and enlightening read." – Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY, Starred review

Praise for SMILE

"An utterly charming graphic memoir of tooth trauma, first crushes and fickle friends, sweetly reminiscent of Judy Blume's work. . . . Irresistible, funny and touching–a must read for all teenage girls." --KIRKUS REVIEWS

"A charming addition to the body of young adult literature that focuses on the trials and tribulations of the slightly nerdy girl." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"It hits home partly because there is nothing else out there like it." --THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Kirkus Reviews

From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage. Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School's production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We're the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer. Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)