DRAMA (TEAM BLIND · REVIEW D)
A charming backstage comedy that normalizes same-sex crushes for middle schoolers.
The Worldview
DRAMA's world is entirely secular. Nobody prays, nobody goes to church, and God is never mentioned — which is not the problem. The problem is what the book puts in God's place.
What it exalts is real and good as far as it goes: teamwork, patience, hard work, forgiving a rude friend, telling the truth when a friend asks you to cover for her cheating. Callie wins the crew's respect by serving them, not by being popular, and that is a picture Scripture would recognize.
Then the book turns "finding your identity" into its gospel. Middle school, the story says, is the season for discovering who you are — including who you are attracted to. Two boys are gay, a third is unsure, and every friend answers with hugs and applause; the one adult who doesn't know is a father who is kept in the dark. Same-sex attraction is never named as sin, never questioned and never prayed over. It is simply part of growing up, like a crush on a football player.
That is a message, not a mirror of reality, and it lands hardest on the youngest readers. The longing underneath it is real: every child wants to know that he is loved and that who he is matters. Scripture answers that longing with a Maker, not a feeling: "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well" (Psalm 139:14).
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESCallie is a seventh grader at Eucalyptus Middle School who would give anything to be onstage — except she can't sing. So she runs set design for the spring musical, a cheesy Civil War romance called MOON OVER MISSISSIPPI, and this year she means to build a Broadway set on a middle-school budget.
Then twins Justin and Jesse Mendocino join the crew, the cast is announced, ticket sales are terrible, and Callie's working prop cannon starts to look like the easy part. Backstage, everyone is falling for someone who is falling for someone else.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own reader.
- Act I, opening pages (the park) Callie kisses Greg the day he breaks up with Bonnie.
- Mid-book, the lunch scene Justin tells Callie he is gay; she hugs him and says she is glad he told her.
- The car ride to the theater bookstore, before opening night A joke reveals that Justin's father does not know his son is gay.
- The final performance of MOON OVER MISSISSIPPI Jesse wears the female lead's dress and kisses West onstage; the audience cheers.
- The final performance West falls and hurts his knee; blood is mentioned but not shown.
- The school dance, near the end Callie finds Jesse outside talking with West and realizes both boys are drawn to each other.
A locator so a parent can pre-read the scenes that matter instead of the whole book.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Secular, relativistic worldview that extols friendship, teamwork, hard work and self-discovery, and that presents same-sex attraction among middle schoolers as a normal, healthy part of growing up; there is no religious content at all, and the one parent kept in the dark is a father whose son has not told him he is gay.
Foul Language
No foul language. Characters trade mild insults such as "lame," "dork," "losers," "fuzzbrain," "dumb" and "thickheaded," and at least once tell someone to "shut up."
Violence
Light and cartoonish. A boy takes a spill onstage during the musical and hurts his knee; a little blood is mentioned but never drawn. Siblings wrestle, a character gets his hands stuck together with Super Glue, and the crew works in a dark, spooky costume cellar. No weapons, no deaths.
Sex
Crushes and dating fill the book. Callie, a seventh grader, kisses an eighth-grade boy in the park the day he breaks up with his girlfriend; there is kissing on the cheek and on the lips a few times, and couples dance close at the school dance. Two boys are gay — one says so outright, his twin is quietly drawn to another boy, and a third student is unsure whether he is gay or bisexual. In the final performance a boy fills in for the female lead in a dress and kisses the male lead onstage, to applause. The book presents every one of these as healthy, normal and brave.
Nudity
No nudity.
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use.
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs.
Miscellaneous Immorality
Name-calling and rude remarks between classmates, and a boy is mocked for being the "dork." A girl asks a friend to help her cheat on a test, and the story treats the cheating as wrong. Callie's little brother snoops through her room. The book's one serious misstep here is secrecy: the kids agree that parents are the last people to tell about same-sex attraction, and Justin's father doesn't know — a choice the story never questions.
Is the Writing Any Good?
Four stars, and they're earned. Telgemeier's cartoony line is endlessly expressive — a raised eyebrow carries a whole scene — and the color work keeps stage lights and school hallways distinct. The backstage detail is the real pleasure: cue calls, snack runs, flats painted late, a crew that slowly becomes a team.
The large cast is the one soft spot. With so many crushes and misunderstandings stacked up, the middle of the book sags, and these seventh graders sound more like high schoolers than they should. Even so, the storytelling is confident, funny and kind, and kids who love theater will see their own world on the page. Well made. Wrong for your child.
Talk About It
Four questions for the dinner table, the car, or a parent and teen reading it together.
Callie keeps building her set even when the budget is tiny and ticket sales are terrible. Where does that kind of stick-to-it work come from, and who is it really for?
Colossians 3:23 · Proverbs 14:23Justin hides being gay from his dad, and his friends think that's wise. When is it right to keep something from your parents, and when does hiding hurt you?
Ephesians 6:1–2 · Proverbs 15:22The book says middle school is about finding your identity. Who gets to tell you who you are — your feelings, your friends, or the One who made you?
Psalm 139:13–14 · Genesis 1:27Bonnie asks a friend to help her cheat, and the story calls it wrong. What do you say when a friend asks you to cover for them?
Proverbs 12:22 · Ephesians 4:25The Final Word
DRAMA is a well-made, genuinely funny book carrying a message that runs against Scripture, aimed squarely at the age when your child is deciding who she is. There are better stories for that job — books that give her courage, kindness and a Maker rather than a feeling. If she has already read it, ask her what Justin's dad deserved to know. Our answer: skip it.
