The book is primarily told from Sarah, aka Sadye's perspective, a high schooler who feels bigger than her town and destined for greatness on stage. She finally meets a kindred spirit in Demi who has remained incognito during the school day. Their attendance of a summer drama program leads to self-discovery and a new view of fame and friendship.
Lockhart's language is easy to connect with and the characters are intriguing and likeable. You don't have to be a musical theatre nerd or flamboyant spotlight hogger to step into Sadye's and Demi's shoes. There are lots and lots of references to great musicals (Demi's a Liza Minella fanatic and Sadye's obsessed with Caberet) and the reader's lack of theatre history knowledge may dampen the humor a bit, but the meaning is definitely not lost. It will hopefully inspire her to do a little research!
Also being in theater, I definitely want to give this book a read for use in my future classes. As for the references that your students might not understand, I agree that they will be motivated to do some side research and perhaps beg you to let them watch "Cabaret" as a class. This also reminded me of an awesome documentary about three high school musical productions in Southern Indiana and I can't wait to show to my high school students. It covered so many bases about identity and how much hard work goes into making a production possible.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVvsbPaAB7Y&feature=player_embedded#!