WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION NATIONAL BESTSELLER 'Electrifying' (People) - 'Masterly' (The Guardian) - 'Dramatic and memorable' (The New Yorker) - 'Magic' (TIME) - 'Ingenious' (The Financial Times) - 'A gonzo literary performance' (Entertainment Weekly) - 'Rare and splendid' (The Boston Globe) - 'Remarkable' (USA Today) - 'Delicious' (The New York Times) - 'Book groups, meet your next selection' (NPR) In an American suburb in the early 1980s, students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble, ambitiously pursuing music, movement, Shakespeare, and, particularly, their acting classes. When within this striving 'Brotherhood of the Arts,' two freshmen, David and Sarah, fall headlong into love, their passion does not go unnoticed--or untoyed with--by anyone, especially not by their charismatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley. The outside world of family life and economic status, of academic pressure and of their future adult
