Bookanistas: Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Plot without spoilers…Sadye (formerly known as Sarah) and her half-closeted best friend, Demi, leave the boring confines of their dull midwestern town for a summer at Wildwood theater camp. Sadye vows to live large, find romance, and own the stage. Instead, she is surrounded by intimidatingly talented, equally ambitious fellow campers, cast in unimpressive roles, and frustrated by a domineering celebrity director. Is Sadye just too much to be confined behind a velvet curtain?

Of literary interest…Lockhart intersperses the narrative with transcripts of micro-recorded dialogues Sadye makes to document her amazing summer. This juxtaposition of present-tense conversations with traditional past-tense storytelling gives the novel an engrossing, theatrical-scripty feel.

Finally, just gotta say...This book checked all the boxes for me: interesting structure, contemporary fiction, performing arts and a protagonist who is as loveable as she is off-putting.  Sadye is big, outspoken, inquisitive--a desperate dreamer longing to find the dream she wants to make come true. Set Dramarama beside Will Grayson, Will Grayson (one of my all-time faves) on your top gleek-tastic library shelf.
 
What are the other Bookanistas applauding this week?

Elana Johnson turns you on to Divergent

LiLa Roecker is ensnared by Tighter

Christine Fonseca gets giddy about Moonglass – with giveaway

Shannon Messenger is mesmerized by Imaginary Girls – with giveaway

Kirsten Hubbard has double the love for Rival and Moonglass

Carolina Valdez Miller vaunts Divergent – with giveaway

Megan Miranda devours Bad Taste in Boys

Bethany Wiggins and Shana Silver share their passion for Possession

Gretchen McNeil rocks out with The Anti-Prom

Carrie Harris reads along Blood Red Road

Myra McEntire anounces the Bookanistas Give Back/Run for Your Life prize winners