Play Book Tag discussion

Thirteen-year-old theater geek Nate Foster is finally seeing his dreams come true. After a callback from the team producing "ET: the musical", Nate is chosen as the second understudy to ET himself. Now engrossed in all the backstage furor, Nate is nearly overwhelmed by his cast mates. There are child divas, menacing stage mothers, actors with so many conditions in their contracts that he is surprised they do anything, and petty rivalries. Nate keeps plodding along, never quite mastering dance moves, but his photographic memory has enabled him to memorize the entire script. He can be ready at a second's notice to fill in wherever needed but he sees he probably won't be. All the while Nate misses his best friend Libby back home in small town Pennsylvania while he deals with budding emotions and confusing sexual identity. Nate is full of heart and kindness and hopes that his big break may be just over the horizon.

This is book 2 in this charming young adult series. Even though Nate has been bullied his entire life and has a family that doesn't much care about him, he is the sweetest soul. Fortunately he has a loving Aunt Heidi, also an aspiring actor, who takes Nate into her life and her home. You just can't help but root for this young man.