Setting the Stage -- Lindsay Champion, Hardcover

The full story of a junior high musical production, told exclusively from the POV of the kids backstage. It's High School Musical, from behind the scenes...without the high school.

Every cast depends on its stage crew. But what happens when they hate each other?

Eighth grader Ella Amani has been waiting her whole life to be the stage manager of the middle school musical, and this is her year!

Somehow she'll have to find jobs for Willow, who's doing stage crew instead of detention, and Sebastian, a shy sixth grader whose sister is the star of the show. She'll have to wrangle Kevin, the clumsy new kid who was homeschooled on a boat, and Levi, her best friend, who used to tell her everything.

Still, Ella's pretty sure she can handle the crew. The cast? That's a different story. They're ungrateful, they treat the crew like servants, and when Ella finally pushes back, they start playing pranks!

The first act in a trilogy, Setting the Stage is a behind-the-scenes look at the drama of drama club from the crew's point of view.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Author: Lindsay Champion
Publisher: Pixel+ink
Published: 10/21/2025
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
ISBN: 9781645953289
Audience: Ages 9-12

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2025

About the Author
Lifelong theater geek Lindsay Champion made her stage debut as a tiger in her second-grade musical. Since then, she's built sets, run the light board, operated the spotlight and (her favorite) stage managed. She is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and was the Features Editor at Broadway.com. She is the author of the YA novel Someday, Somewhere.