Setting the Stage (Cast vs. Crew #1) and Chris Makes a Friend

Champion, Lindsay. Setting the Stage (Cast vs. Crew #1)
October 21, 2025 by Pixel+Ink
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central

Ella Amani has been dreaming for years about becoming the stage manager for her middle school drama production, so when she is finally picked by Ms. Pickler, she is thrilled. Her best friend, Levi, also would rather be in the crew than on the stage, but he has bigger things on his mind than Curie the Musical. Ella is a bit stressed herself, since her Iranian parents have set up their own business and expect her to watch out for her three younger sisters. In addition to the awesome responsibility of listening to auditions, and having keys and the prompt book, Ella has to turn her hand to managing a diverse crew, not all of whom want to be there, as well as snotty actors. Sixth grader Sebastian joins the crew because his older sister Rose is one of the stars, and he has a bit of a crush on Levi. Willow's corporate lawyer parents are making her do an activity after she got in trouble for vaping. Kevin was homeschooled on a boat. The crew does a good job with their various tasks, even though stars like Jordan keep playing practical jokes and aren't at all grateful for all that the crew does. As her parents put more and m ore responsibility on her when she has the least amount of time to deal with it, Ella does not appreciate being taken for granted! She often vents to Levi, but he has limited patience; he's been in kinship care with Sam and Pearl, second cousins on his mother's, since she and his father have struggled with issues that complicate raising him. He's gotten a call from his mother, who wants to meet up, and while Levi would like to live with her again, in his heart of hearts, he knows he is better off with Sam. As with any play, there are always complications, like Ella having to take her sister to a dentist's appointment during Hell Week. Will Curie the Musical go off without a hitch? We'll have to wait until book two to find out. 

This book is told from multiple perspectives, so we get to see the inner workings of the worlds of several characters, and observe similar scenes in different ways. Ella's life seems stressful to her, but Levi thinks she has it particularly good, since he's worried about whether or not he will be able to finish the school year at the same school. Ella is trying to do a good job, but being sabotaged by her parents, who are rather oblivious as to what being the stage manager means. Side characters, like Rosa, Sebastian, and Willow also get to share their views of the production. 

The ending is definitely a cliff hanger, and sets the stage for the next part of the trilogy. There is a real play of Curie the Musical, but I'm not sure that the songs and scenes in this book are based on the real one. 

 

Readers who know all of the lyrics to Hamilton! and Wicked will devour this backstage look at the theater world. Put this on the playbill alongside Otheguy's Sofía Acosta Makes a Scene, Brown's Dream, Annie, Dream, Miller's Shannon in the Spotlight, Stroker and Davidowitz's The Chance to Fly, and Asher's Upstaged, and make sure to keep the ghost light burning! 

I did find it hard to believe there are schools anywhere where the stars of the play are "middle school royalty", but since the author has a lot of theater experience, maybe this is based on her life, or maybe on wishful thinking. We do have one play a year, but they are usually very different from the ones portrayed in books. Theater books are not very popular with my students. 

Gino, Alex. Chris Makes a Friend

November 4, 2025 by Scholastic Press

ARC provided by Scholastic

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Chris is going into 6th grade and is pretty sure she identifies as a cisgender girl, and lives in New York City with her mother and younger sister, Becca. As the school year ends, her mother, who suffers from chronic back and neck pain, and her girlfriend Frank, have big news: the mother is undergoing surgery to help her condition, and Chris and Becca will be spending the summer with their father's parents, Nana and Papa, in rural Massachusetts. Chris is angry that she won't be able to spend time with her best friend, Vicky, with whom she has planned the Great Summer 72 Book Challenge. Since there are 72 days in vacation, they plan to read that many books together when they are not playing video games. Vicky says not to worry, since she is going to a theater camp, and they can still read independently. It doesn't help that Chris will have to spend a lot of time with her sister, who is annoying in the extreme, and will only be allowed to have screen time in the mornings, before Nana takes away her tablet. There are upsides; Papa makes delicious waffles in the morning, and when Chris is forced outside in the afternoons, she does find a nice spot by a creek to read. Eventually, she even finds a friend, Mia Yaring, who is also staying with her grandmother, and who also enjoyes the Magical Mystical Vidalia fantasy series that Chris does. Chris' mother recuperates more slowly than expected from the surgery, and the visit is extended when she has to go back for another procedure, although Frank says that everything is going fairly well. At the end of the story, we do learn some secrets about Mia, but Chris has learned that her sister isn't all bad, and that her upcoming middle school experience won't be so terrible, especially since Vicky has remained her friend. 

Strengths: There are very few depictions of parents with chronic health conditions that impact the lives of their children, although there are probably more parents in this situation than there are deceased middle grade parents, so the mother's chronic pain was an informative inclusion. Summers with grandparents are always interesting, even if Chris is annoyed that Nana takes away her tablet and refers to her and Becca as "girls". There is lots of modern thought and language surrounding gender, which is not surprising given Gino's body of work. Mia ask Chris "So you're a girl?" to which Chris replies "As far as I know", and there are other inclusive moments. It is good to see that Chris and Becca get along better at the end of the book. I'd love to see more books that involve subplots that deal with sibling relationships. 
Weaknesses: This seemed a bit young because of the major twist in the plot (that I don't want to reveal). While this is probably an accurate depiction of summer for modern day tweens, it made me sad. Most of the time, the girls seem to be on screens. Nana lets them play the entire morning, and there are often family movie nights. While Becca practices soccer, neither of the girls seem to have any initiative to do much. This makes for a rather slow moving story. There are not grand adventures. 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like gentle summer time tales like Kendall's The True Definition of Neva Beane or Guillory's Gus and Glory. There is a list of the 72 books that Chris reads over the summer at the end; only two are imaginary! 

A historical note: The grandparents get the newspaper delivered, and Chris enjoys reading the Parade Magazine, so this means the book is set before 2022.