The Four Dorothys (Drama!)
Malibu, California's exclusive Orion Academy is a high school with "a ton of Future Media Moguls of America." Given the highly ambitious students (and powerful parents), school-play auditions are so political that administrators are pressured to cast four separate actresses as Dorothy in the school's upcomingThe Wizard of Oz.Brian, a student "on the periphery of popularity," chronicles show week, during which suspicious events threaten each Dorothy's participation in the play. Ruditis, author of the highly publicizedRainbow Party(2006), offers a more developed story here. Brian's breezy, sometimes bawdy voice will draw teens with spot-on descriptions like "Abercrombie Zombies" and "adorkable." Brian is gay and closeted, and his refreshing, light approach to his secret will also appeal to many readers: "None of my friends have announced to me that they're straight. Until they do that, I don't see much point in making some grand declaration of my own." The first title in the Drama! series, this should pull fans of the Gossip Girls books and Dyan Sheldon'sConfessions of a Teenage Drama Queen(1999).Gillian EngbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved