There is nothing I love more than a book set inside the world of the theatre. Backstage shenanigans, identity crises, overblown egos, stories within stories, and the long hours characters are forced to spend together create highly combustible, and often hilarious, scenarios.

Recently it seems that young adult fiction is brimming with titles focused around school or university theatre or musical productions, community theatre, or even big Broadway dreams. And why not, because when you’re young and dramatically inclined, all the world’s a stage!

Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell by Tobias Madden

Noah is in love with his online best friend. Which is a huge problem, because his crush has no idea and there’s zero chance they’ll ever meet in real life.

So, when Noah sees an opportunity to secretly meet his crush, he takes it. Even though he’ll have to join the cast of a local production of Chicago with his self-obsessed mother. Even though he’ll need to lie to his best (and only) friend. And even though he’ll have to sing and dance in front of actual people. What could possibly go wrong?

Suitable for ages 12 and up.

Triple Threat by Katy Warner

Published September 15

Edie Emerson is a triple threat: she can sing and dance and act. But despite being the lead in every musical at prestigious performing arts school Arcadia Grammar, she knows her future on the stage is uncertain. At least until the infamous director Toby Swan agrees to stage Romeo and Juliet at the academy.

This show could launch Edie’s career - except she doesn’t do ‘theatre’. And she’s already agreed to star in a new musical written by her best friend, Will. So when Toby casts the annoying-but-hot Noah Winters as Romeo, and he insists on Edie for Juliet, it sets the stage for drama …

Suitable for ages 12 and up.

Libby Lawrence is Good at Pretending by Jodi McAlister

Nineteen-year-old Libby Lawrence is good at pretending. Problem is, she’s not entirely sure how to stop. Which is good for her role in the campus production of Much Ado About Nothing but poses problems in her personal life. Especially when the list of things she can’t admit to starts to build.

Jodi McAlister’s sparkling campus novel is a rom-com about friendship, authenticity, and all the ways we perform ourselves … and the preciousness of those moments when all artifice falls away. Dramatic and wise, it combines arch wit and sharp banter with a knowing heart.

Suitable for ages 13 and up.

Mazie by Melanie Crowder

Mazie has always longed to be on Broadway. But growing up in her small Nebraska town, that always seemed like an impossible dream. So when an opportunity presents itself to spend six weeks auditioning, Mazie jumps at the chance.

New York City is a shock to the senses. Auditions are brutal. Mazie’s homesick and she misses the boyfriend whose heart she broke when she left. With money running out, and faced with too many rejections to count, Mazie is more determined than ever to land a role. But when she discovers that booking a job might mean losing sight of herself, everything Mazie always thought she wanted is called into question.

Suitable for ages 13 and up.

When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord

Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the Millie Moods, the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.

Suitable for readers aged 13 and up.

Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve

Dean Foster knows he’s a trans guy. But everyone at his high school thinks he’s a lesbian - including his girlfriend, Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a non-traditional Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out.

But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realises he wants everyone to see him as he really is now - not just on the stage, but everywhere in his life. Dean knows what he needs to do. Can playing a role help Dean be his true self?

Suitable for readers aged 14 and up.

Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale

Josie Pie was born to be a star. So she dropped out of high school to pursue her Broadway dreams, but after months of failed auditions, she finds herself broke, beaten-down and nannying.

Lonely and directionless, Josie checks out the local bookstore, looking for the ultimate escape. And escape she does. Literally. She falls into the plots of her books, including a bodice ripper, a dystopian thriller, a YA romance, and more, all filled with swoony co-stars who just make her yearn to repair things with the boyfriend she left behind. As her reality begins to unravel, will it be too late for Josie to get back to the real world?

Suitable for readers aged 12 and up.

Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli

A novel about daring to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight in love, life and theatre.

Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate and Anderson are not co-dependent. Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway. But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. Matt is talented and sweet, and both Kate and Anderson really like him.

Suitable for readers aged 12 and up.