Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
There Are No Cheat Codes for Showmance
Seventeen-year-old gaymer Noah Mitchell only has one friend left: the wonderful, funny, strictly online-only MagePants69. After years playing RPGs together, they know everything about each other, except anything that would give away their real life identities. And Noah is certain that if they could just meet in person, they would be soulmates. Noah would do anything to make this happen—including finally leaving his gaming chair to join a community theater show that he’s only mostly sure MagePants69 is performing in. Noah has never done anything like theater—he can’t sing, he can’t dance, and he’s never willingly watched a musical—but he’ll have to go all in to have a chance at love.
With Noah’s mum performing in the lead role, and former friends waiting in the wings to sabotage his reputation, his plan to make MagePants69 fall in love with him might be a little more difficult than originally anticipated.
And the longer Noah waits to come clean, the more tangled his web of lies becomes. By opening night, he will have to decide if telling the truth is worth closing the curtain on his one shot at true love.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A queer Australian teen joins a community theater production to woo his online crush in this frothy romance by Madden (Anything But Fine). Seventeen-year-old white Noah Mitchell distracts himself from constant school bullying by playing online games with his secret crush, whom he knows only as MagePants69, or M. Though Noah desperately wants to meet M IRL, M's mother forbids him from sharing personal information; all Noah knows is that they live in the same town. But when M reveals that he's in a play and his online absences match up with rehearsals for Noah's mom's local production of Chicago, Noah joins the cast using his mother's connections. At rehearsals, he meets white Eli Callaghan, who resembles M's avatar. Convinced they're the same person, Noah endeavors to woo Eli while keeping their established connection secret. As rehearsals progress, Noah struggles with learning the choreography and standing up to his bullies, and Eli's jealousy over Noah's tentative friendship with the show's lead often stalls their budding relationship. Noah's initial social isolation, slowly building confidence, and gradual realization that people want to be his friend outside of the internet are sensitively wrought, making for an absorbing protagonist readers can't help but root for. Ages 14–up.
