Nate Expectations - Our Middle School Hero Returns from Broadway to High School in Jankburg, PA, Where He Has To Figure Out How To Come Out As His Awesome, Show-Loving, Gay Self

Nate Expectations By Tim Federle

When the news hits that E.T.: The Musical wasn’t nominated for a single Tony Award—not one!—the show closes, leaving Nate both out of luck and out of a job. And while Nate’s cast mates are eager to move on (the boy he understudies already landed a role on a TV show!), Nate knows it’s back to square one, also known as Jankburg, Pennsylvania. Where horror (read: high school) awaits.

Desperate to turn his life from flop to fabulous, Nate takes on a huge freshman English project with his BFF, Libby: he’s going to make a musical out of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. (What could possibly go…right?) But when Nate’s New York crush ghosts him, and his grades start to slip, he finds the only thing harder than being on Broadway is being a freshman — especially when you’ve got a secret you’re desperate to sing out about.

Add your review of "Nate Expectations" in comments!

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! - Nate's Broadway Dreams Are Coming True (And this Middle Grade Book Won the Lambda Literary Award!)

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle

It's the sequel to "Better Nate Than Ever," and this time...

Nate Foster's Broadway Dreams are FINALLY coming true. Armed with a one-way ticket to New York City, small-town theater geek Nate is off to start rehearsals for E.T.: The Musical. It's everything he ever practiced his autograph for! But as thrilling as Broadway is, rehearsals--full of intimidating child stars, cutthroat understudies, and a director who can't even remember Nate's name--are nothing like Nate expects.

Now, as the countdown to opening night is starting to feel more like a ticking time bomb, Nate is going to need more than his lucky rabbit's foot if he ever wants to see his name in lights. He may even need a show-biz miracle.

Check out the fun 'behind the story' video with Tim here:

 

Add your review of "Five, Six, Seven, Nate!" in comments!

The 2015 Lambda Literary Award Children's/Young Adult Finalists

There are 8 finalists for this year's Lambda Literary Award in the Children's/Young Adult category. And the finalists are...

Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, Susan Kuklin, Candlewick Press

Double Exposure, Bridget Birdsall, Sky Pony Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing

Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, Tim Federle, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before, Karelia Stetz-Waters, Ooligan Press

Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley, Harlequin Teen

Pukawiss the Outcast, Jay Jordan Hawke, Dreamspinner Press/Harmony Ink Press

This is Not a Love Story, Suki Fleet, Dreamspinner Press/Harmony Ink Press

When Everything Feels like the Movies, Raziel Reid, Arsenal Pulp Press

A sneak peek of the LGBTQ Q&A conference faculty guests at this year's sold-out SCBWI Summer Conference!

One of my favorite events of the year, the SCBWI Summer Conference starts today! I'm once again heading up SCBWI's Team Blog, and we'll be tweeting (follow the hashtag #la14scbwi) and blogging live from the conference floor over at the Official Conference Blog.

Among the conference events I'm most excited about is getting to host the LGBTQ Q&A session this evening (Friday August 1, 2014), from 7:30pm - 8:30pm in Olympic II.

Our faculty guests this year are fantastic, and will be joining us with enthusiasm, encouragement, and answers to attendees' questions about the fears, challenges and triumphs of including LGBTQ characters and themes in works for children and teens.

Who are they?

Tim Federle, 2014 Golden Kite For Fiction Winner for his Middle Grade novel, "Better Nate Than Ever." I did a fun pre-conference interview with Tim here.

Author Tim Federle

Agent Danielle Smith, of Red Fox Literary

Agent Danielle Smith

Agent Adriana Dominguez, of Full Circle Literary

Agent Adriana Dominguez

Art Director Laurent Linn from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (who worked on Tim's cover!)

Laurent Linn and a friend

and legendary author Bruce Coville (who has published over 120 books and whose "Am I Blue?" short story back in 1995 gave the title to the ground-breaking Marion Dane Bauer-edited anthology, "Am I Blue?: Coming Out From the Silence."

Author Bruce Coville

If you're attending the SCBWI Summer conference, I hope to see you there. Otherwise, if it's of interest, stay tuned to the conference blog and to twitter for a tapas-like taste of what's sure to be an amazing event, in a weekend of superlatives!

** UPDATE SAT AUG 2, 2014, 6:33AM **

We were also joined by "Freakboy" Author Kristin Elizabeth Clark and Editor Emma Dryden.

You can read my session summary here at the Official SCBWI Conference Blog.

***

Namaste,
Lee

Better Nate Than Ever - A Gay (And Show-Stopping!) Middle Grade Adventure About A Small-Town Boy Who Runs Away From Home To Crash A Broadway Audition

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

Nate Foster has big dreams. His whole life, he’s wanted to star in a Broadway show. (Heck, he’d settle for seeing a Broadway show.) But how is Nate supposed to make his dreams come true when he’s stuck in Jankburg, Pennsylvania, where no one (except his best pal Libby) appreciates a good show tune? With Libby’s help, Nate plans a daring overnight escape to New York. There’s an open casting call for E.T.: The Musical, and Nate knows this could be the difference between small-town blues and big-time stardom. 

It's a middle grade book I found both laugh-out-loud funny and heart-felt.  Add your review of "Better Nate Than Ever" in comments!