Forsooth

All the world’s a stage to 13-year-old Catholic theater kid Calvin Conroy—if only he can stop falling off them. His misstep at the climax of Longfellow Middle School’s Cinderella production is a low point for Calvin, who feels that his anxiety constantly foils his dreams of shining in the limelight. Calvin hopes that summer will be a chance to make amends for his stumble to his two best friends, leading lady Kennedy Carmichael and Jonah Franklin, Calvin’s secret crush. But when Calvin learns that Kennedy is leaving for drama school in N.Y.C., he enlists Jonah, confident classmate Maia Ruiz, and intriguing neighbor Blake Richardson to produce a movie about Kennedy’s life in the hopes that it will convince her to stay. A dramatic second-person prologue gives way to Calvin’s sensitive and enthusiastic first-person POV in this funny and joyous ode to creative expression. Matejek-Morris (My Ex-Imaginary Friend) delves into adolescent friendship drama and Calvin’s challenges growing up queer in a religious family, as well as issues of internalized racism, via theatrical hijinks that add levity to the weighty themes. Calvin, Blake, and Kennedy read as white, Maia is Latinx coded, and Jonah is Black and Jewish. Ages 11–14. Agent: Emily Keyes, Keyes Agency. (Nov.)