Reading: DRAMA - Raina Telgemeier

After hearing about both writer and graphic novel for the longest, Drama was  my introduction to the brilliant work of multiple award-winning writer/illustrator Raina Telgemeier. Set in the 8th grade and featuring a young female protagonist so real you would have loved to have her as a best friend back in the day, the book opens with Callie - a theater nut with, sadly, no discernible singing or acting talent - who hungrily jumps at the chance to be set designer for Moon Over Mississippi, her school's new musical. With Broadway ambitions in her future, Callie is determined to create a professional stage on a middle school budget (including a cannon that will fire on-stage), all while navigating classes and tests, a bratty kid brother, the rejection of a crush, a pair of cute twin brothers who become Callie's best friends, and a cast and crew who are constantly squabbling. Beautifully illustrated in brilliant colors, the book reads more like "reading" an animated series, and Telgemeier has certainly tapped into the middle-grade mind because there isn't a false note in the story or especially the characters that all ring true on the page; I knew all of these personalities back in my own middle-school days many years ago. Drama also handles delicate, more sensitive subjects of today with real grace and honesty - not to mention a sense of humor, thanks to one of the most delightful heroines I'd discovered in awhile. Already one of my favorite reads of 2019, and I cannot wait to explore more of Ms. Telgemeier's work.  5/5 stars