Ranking Drama!

1. Everyone’s a Critic: This book comes at number one because of the major shift in character development and aspirations for the series’ protagonist, Bryan Stark. And it’s only the second episode! Bryan has always wanted to be an actor, not on Meryl Streap-level, that’s his best friend’s Sam’s perogative but he is fine with the idea of becoming a character actor with steady income of supporting roles. He’s an observer by nature. But that dream goes to pieces when famed Hollywood director and critic comes to Orion Academy’s Summer Stock and brutally rips apart everyone’s auditions. Sam is too practiced. Hope is too broad, only good for comedy. And Bryan. Bryan gets no critique at all because Blackstone proclaims he will never be an actor.

From there, Bryan spirals in his life’s focus and no one cna get their head in the game for their second audition, an ensamble piece that is supposed to help two students clinche the chance of working with Blackstone. You can see the series is living up to its name and it’s thoroughly enjoyable in not only exploring what it means when confronted with your dreams being too unrealistic to pursue but resolves Bryan’s crisis with a new goal that was in him all along.

2. Entrances and Exits: It’s a new school year for the Orion High kids and Hope and Bryan are given the great honor of writing and directing their play for the Student Play Festival. Hope’s piece is magnificant but Bryan is still learning the ropes for this whole directing thing. He doesn’t want to let his friends down but they might be getting in his way with Hope being furious at him for casting her stepsister as one of the three lead roles to Sam getting too attracted to the leading man. Which her boyfriend, Eric wants Bryan to play interferance. Plus new admirers are flocking to Bryan which is whole different distraction for him. While the character progress is lighter than in previous books, it does provide a nice full circle moment as we, readers, finally learn the fall out between him and Drew but Bryan finally sees past some of the performances in front of him and see his classmates in a different light.

3. The Four Dorothys: This is an excellent intro to the world of Bryan Stark and his friends and enemies at Orion High School. The performing arts school for the uber talented, uber connected, and uber divas. With so many wannabe starlets, Orion High double casts its play so no one’s precious child calls their daddy’s entertainment lawyers to sue the school. Unfortunately, there’s someone who wants to get rid of all the other leading ladies including Bryan’s best friend, Sam. It’s a fun combination of whodunnit and Hollywood hijinks with a healthy dose of character development as Bryan’s privilege is lifted from his eyes as he and Sam’s sleuthing styles lead to conflict. Well, more like Sam dating Bryan’s ex bff’s new bff is causing conflict.

4. Show, Don’t Tell: Now this book may be the only one off the campus of Orion High but there’s still plenty of drama in Bryan’s life when Sam drags him to the dreaded Ren Faire. All the thous and thees aren’t his thing especially when he keeps getting locked in stocks for anachronistic technology. That’s mainly due to Sam’s Ren faire bestie, whose capital G-Gay! (imagine an opera trill here) is hitting at a sore spot in regards to Bryan’s own sexuality. He doesn’t see it as a big deal and doesn’t want to come out, just be, but is he suffering from internalized homophobia as suggests? Then Sam commits BFf betrayal, in Bryan’s mind at least, in not telling him about her hook-up with Eric. Things all go to the gallows. The Ren faire gallows that is. It’s a good book especially as it brings Bryan out of his comfort zone, and provides heartwarming moments between him and Sam. But there’s just something that isn’t quite the same when transplantting the kids outside of school.