A Review of "Better Nate Than Ever"

I am back from my summer vacation with a whole bunch of new books to review. Here is one of them!

Better Nate Than Ever is a delightful book about a thirteen year old with BIG dreams. Nate Foster's dream is and always has been to star in a Broadway show, but how can he? He is, as bullies constantly remind him, is in Jankburg, Pennsylvania, "(unofficial motto, 48.5 miles from Pittsburgh and a thousand miles from fun'"). The only person who believes in him and his theater career (he played the broccoli in a junior high pageant) is his friend Libby. Together they have studied Broadway musicals through illegal clips on YouTube, and Libby's soundtracks. It all starts when Libby goes on Facebook and finds that Jordan Rylance has posted that he will be auditioning for, "E.T. The Musical", ON BROADWAY. Nate and Libby devise a plan the bare outline: Nate will travel by bus to New York City while his parents are on a vacation and his brother is at a football meet. He will audition, and then get out of there. Although Nate makes it to the audition, will he make it back in time? In this thrilling and unspeakably funny adventure, Nate Foster proves that just because you are from a small town, you can accomplish big things. One of the things I enjoy about this book is how accurate the references are. For instance, there really was a musical flop called Moose Murders which ran for one show. The author, Tim Federle is himself a former Broadway dancer, and among other things was on the choreography team for Billy Elliot! He has the sequel to Better Nate Than Ever coming out in January this year. Make sure you read it!

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