Dramarama Author:E. Lockhart Two theater-mad, self-invented, fabulosition Ohio teenagers. One boy, one girl. One gay, one straight. One black, one white. And SUMMER DRAMA CAMP. It's a season of hormones, gold lame', hissy fits, jazz hands, song and dance, true love, and unitards that will determine their future -- and test their friends... more »hip.
From Booklist:
She was just big-boned, big-nose Sarah living in Brenton, Ohio, where, as she puts it, "committing suicide would be redundant." Then she meets Demi, who is trying hard to be invisible--surprisingly easy considering he's black and gay. Alone they are, well... alone, but brought together by their love of musical theater, they light up. All this might sound like a stereotypical take on gay men and the women who love them, and there is some of that, but there's also so much more. The renamed Sayde and Demi make their way to a summer theater camp, and that's where things change. Encouraged to become part of the ensemble, Sayde finds she is too opinionated to do that, even as it turns out that she is less talented than she believed. At the same time, Demi is discovering that he's a star who can hang out with actual boyfriends rather than Sayde. Lockhart mixes this all up neatly. Most of the story is told in a bright, bitchy voice that, while familiar, is very smart and very funny; transcripts of tapes made for "posterity" add delicious detail. Although it's hard to say what kids who aren't into musical comedy will make of the myriad detail offered here (Birdie! Cabaret! Cats!), theater lovers will applaud, and everyone else will appreciate the twists and the ending you don't see coming.« less