Hello my name is Avery, and once upon a time……..not very long ago……before I fell for the world of words and writing and books; at 15, I was convinced someday I’d be bringing home a Tony Award. I WAS A HARD-CORE, HIGH-SCHOOL THEATRE NERD.

Enter, center stage: KATE IN WAITING, by Becky Albertalli. The immersive world of high school theater in one YA book.

I've seen YA books where theatre is highlighted or touched upon, but in KATE IN WAITING, you are sucked into every aspect. Rehearsals. Improv games. Love triangles backstage. The “cult” that really is theatre, a quiet hub hidden away from the rest of the school. Couples making out in the lighting booth. Cast parties. And especially, the *intense* raw emotion, that comes with being a theatre kid.... is so authentic and real in this book.

✨“Maybe wisdom doesn’t have to shatter the earth. It just need to feel true.” ✨

Just like this quote from the book (one of my favorites) - the story didn’t necessarily shatter the earth. It is about Kate her best friend Anderson (WHO HAVE THE CUTEST friendship of all time, btw) — and what happens when the two of them are crushing on the same guy.

I wanted to be surprised, but never really was. The drama is primarily centered around a love triangle, and honestly, I cared more about other aspects of the book: like Kate and her brother, Kate’s future, the theatre world, etc. But it was true. It made me laugh. It made my heart warm. And last week, that’s just what I needed.

Kate in Waiting comes out 4/20/21 and I can’t wait for u to all experience the theatre magic 🎭 (YOU ALL BETTER DM ME ONCE YOU READ IT!!!)

Thank you @balzerandbray @harpercollins & @netgalley for the free eArc!

Oh my gosh what a treat! I held onto this book because I couldn’t wait to read it and wanted to do so at the perfect time. I LOVE BECKH ALBERTALLI and every world she creates and this was no exception. What a treat. I loved the characters and every single Tangled reference.

Seriously, read this book when you can! A tale of friendship and first loves, all with a theatre backdrop - I loved it! Also, there's some really good comments on relationships that resonated with me and I have highlighted, but can't share. Definitely read if you've read her other books!

ARC graciously provided by NetGalley.

Drama, romance and the theater... all things that take me right back to high-school. Albertalli has created some wonderful YA protagonists in Simon and Leah, and with Kate she continues to create realistic high school students dealing with life. I enjoyed the story and the backdrop of a high school musical. When Kate and her bestie, Anderson, are crushing on the same boy, things get complicated. With a lively cast of characters and relatable issues, this was another good read by Albertville! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved Becky Albertalli's previous novels. This one was very good, though I didn't feel the same spark I did while reading about the adventures of Simon or Leah. I'm somewhat glad to see that Kate's opinion of some of the baseball players was off base, as sometimes, athletes can be depicted a little too one-dimensionally in YA novels, especially ones where theater kids take (ahem) center stage. Kate was, at times, self-absorbed, which could be frustrating, but is not unrealistic. She seemed to care much more about herself than Andy's happiness, and overcoming that was the real struggle she needed to endure - not all the relationshippy stuff.

This book took me a little bit to get into, but once I got into it it got a lot better than I thought it would be! Although I am not a big theater person, I still did enjoy the theater theme of this book, and I think someone who is really into theater would enjoy it a lot more than I did. I also wish that the book had more Noah, especially in the beginning, just so I knew a little more about him before he appears more in the middle. I also really enjoyed the main character growing throughout the book. I love when character development actually happens lol. Overall this is a decent book! I did not enjoy it as much as some of the other Albertalli books I've read, though.

Author Becky Albertalli totally gets high school. Her words take me back to a world of deep friendships and equally deep emotions. Kate is a theater geek in her junior year. She and her gay BFF Andy crush on Matt, a boy at theater camp during the summer, doing nothing about it. Surprisingly on the first day of school Matt shows up as a new student. He also happens to be the son of an old friend of Kate’s mom. Andy and Kate agree their friendship is most important but each can pursue Matt.

I love the idea that their friendship comes first, although that comes with some problems. The story is all from Kate’s POV so we get her whole character including past humiliations and current anxieties. I wish there was more character details on Andy and Kate’s parents but it isn’t included. The timeframe is start of school to the HS musical with lots of emphasis on the getting ready for the play. I like theater but it might be too much for a non theater person. The story is a predictable. I knew early who would end up with who. The author chooses to use the f-bomb throughout referencing the jocks as f***boys. Without that word this book would have been great for middle school.. As a public school librarian the frequent use of the word puts it solely at high school and up. I appreciate that the payoff was kissing and the only warning is for underage drinking. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I just loved this new release from Becky Albertalli - she captures everything (the good and the bad) about high school and transports me back to my teenage years. I love how her characters are into theater, and this one has a show at its center which was so fun! The framing of Kate and Andy's friendship and the crush that comes between them is so well done and moving. And the romance - one of her best!

This book was very cute. As a former theatre kid/on going theatre lover, I feel I was the target audience for this title. I would absolutely recommend this title to both kids interested in broadway as well as adults. What a great nostalgic escape back to the days of school shows.

Thank you to NetGalley and Balzer + Bray for the opportunity to read this advance eBook of Becky's newest book. My first book & probably my favorites of hers are the Upside of the Unrequited and Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda (aka Love, SImon movie) - this one will definitely be one to add to my suggested reads to people looking for a great friendship read where both sexes have a crush on the same person.
This was a great read with a totally believable plotline that shows how everyone is invested in each other's lives, the family dynamics of Kate and her brother Noah and their parents, the friendship of Kate and Andy and their mutual crush - Matt. Consider this book as a fun, quick read for 2021.

Let’s just start with I would read anything this author writes. Do yourself a favor and when you’ve finished this book go back and read her other books. I’ve loved all of them.
So back to Kate. I really got caught up in her story. Her struggles with her best friend, her love interest(s) and her joy for the stage really makes you sympathetic to her struggles. It would be nice if everything was clear and straight forward but life is not like that. And I appreciated the author embracing that and bringing us on this uncomfortable, bumpy journey.
Enjoy the read - and give yourself time to read it. You won’t want to put it down.

There is just something incredibly magical about having a new Becky Albertalli novel in your life – the sun shines brighter, food tastes better, and even a year like 2020 didn’t seem all that bad (for like a second as there’s still a pandemic going on, guys).

Kate in Waiting follows best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker who, besides being the dynamic duo and absolute friendship goals, have the habit of having crushes on the same guy. This is totally fine because they are usually pretty short-lived and if anything, their shared crushes bring Andy and Kate closer together than apart. After all, most of the fun is gushing about a guy to your best friend, right? So why not gush about the same guy?

But when their summer camp crush Matt suddenly transfers to Kate and Anderson’s school and even joins the musical (the biggest Kate and Andy activity), the pair find themselves in a situation they’ve never been before: both of them really, really like Matt and their crushes on him are not going anywhere. It’s one thing to crush on the same guy as your best friend. But what happens when real feelings get involved? How do you get what – or who – you want without hurting the most important person in your life?

There are many things I love about this book but one deserves the highest of compliments and that is, as always, Albertalli’s impeccable writing. She just excels at penning characters that draw you in from the get-go and this time was no different. Throughout the book, I could always imagine Kate’s thought process because her stream of consciousness was incredibly immersive – at no point in the book did I feel like she was acting out of character or ‘losing’ her voice. Instead, I was rooting for her, sometimes maybe even a bit more than she did for herself. I also appreciate how Albertalli always manages to dip into the real issues and problems teenagers face with such an expert eye without sounding preachy. Also, there are so many quotable lines in this that I can’t wait for readers to use in their bookstagram reviews of this book.

Now, onto the friendship between Andy and Kate that made me so, so happy. I thought it was so beautiful to have the core of this book be the most important relationship and Andy and Kate’s have, and that’s the one they have with each other. They have the best kind of friendship where you’re basically an extension of the other, where you finish each other’s sentences, and you know what will make them happy – and what could potentially hurt them. The exploration of the fact that the people you love and trust most can hurt you because you put that trust in them in the first place, and the entirety of the ‘what do you do when you want to root for your friend but also for yourself because you’ve always been in the dark while they stood bright and enter in the spotlight' was as beautiful as it was devastating. I love how much focus was put on friends above all else and how it’s okay for your platonic friendships to be the most important in your life second to romantic relationships. In a genre that has traditionally focused on first loves, it was a refreshing portrayal to see a friendship getting the same amount of ‘screentime’ as the romantic developments. Kate and Andy definitely win the award for best friendship dynamic.

Speaking of great relationship dynamics, beyond the friends dynamic there is also the cutest relationship between Kate and her brother Ryan. Granted, I don’t have siblings so I can’t speak from experience but I absolutely loved how, for the first time since I can remember, it was actually the sibling that is going away to college that wants to spend time with his younger sister. I loved how Ryan and Kate were trying to bridge that feeling of incompatibility because each of them had their own reasons for thinking the other didn’t want to spend time with them and it was so awkward and clumsy and yet life-affirming when they did finally work it out. It made me ache in the best way possible.

Now, the romance. Oh, the romance. Obviously I don’t want to spoil anything but let me just say I saw what was going to happen right from the get-go and boy was I here for it. I think my only small complaint here is that I would have wished for a bit more background and development on the love interest’s side because the few tidbits that we did get came in really late in the game (which has its reasons) but seeing as this was a book primarily focused on friendship, that’s just a purely selfish complaint because I could read entire books about that certain someone. He wins the prize for cuteness overload.

All in all, this book just really worked for me. All the components, from the musical aspect to the communal crushes and the authentic depiction of friendships, meshed really well together. Nothing felt superfluous or forced; it was just an epic journey that I cannot wait to reread. Also, quick shoutout to Albertalli for the Harry Styles mentions as they made me smile for hours on end.

A love letter to friendship and giving yourself the chance to shine bright in the spotlight, Albertalli delivers another timeless masterpiece. Kate in Waiting is a comforting read that will get theater kids’ hearts beating faster and will make you want to give your bestie an extra squishy hug, just because.

BECKY HAS DONE IT AGAIN! I read Kate in Waiting a few weeks ago and was just FLOORED with its brilliance. Its Becky’s first solo book outside the Simonverse and she has created a whole new vibrant world I want to live in. This book is a love letter to high school theatre and it brought back so many memories that were long forgotten. There were moments in this book that felt directly lifted out of my high school theatre days. In true Albertalli fashion, we get an array of incredibly multi dimensional and diverse characters that you fall in love with over and over again. While this book is full of joy and laughs it also never shies away from dealing with real issues that high schoolers are dealing with on a daily basis. I could go on and on about the brilliance of this book and will be doing so for the next several months until it is out!

Thank you to HarperCollins and Netgalley!

OH MY GOD MY HEART!!!!!!!

Kate in Waiting is 100% your new favorite contemporary because Becky Albertalli did not disappoint in the slightest. How can I begin to explain how much this story meant to me? Not only because of the (very specific) setting, but the wonderful friendships, the theatrical setting, and the daunting reality of being a high-schooler. This story captured a ton of what I and many others feel and go through, and my hope is that this book reaches them and more. I cannot wait for this book to come out in April 2021 and for everyone to fall in love with Kate, Anderson, Matt, Noah, (and many more) just as I did. Kate in Waiting’s characters are all so incredibly wholesome, hilarious, and close to my heart. Some of their conversations about “f-boy/girl” culture, friendships, and certain experiences are ones I hope to carry with me into the future. The curtain closes on this story, but I believe it will awaken new, exciting stories in those who read it.

Kate and Anderson (Andy) have a long history of shared crushes on guys they know they will never obtain. When their summer crush, Matt, unexpectedly moves into town, both think their feelings for him are real. Their friendship is tested by the shared crush while they each try to find ways to get to know Matt better.
In the meantime, Noah, pops back into Kate's inner circle after spending several years as a closer friend to her brother than to her. He starts showing up in unexpected places, like auditions for the musical even though he clearly should be with the jocks and not the theatre crowd.

I adore Becky Albertalli, but was really disappointed in this book. The story overall was cute if a bit predictable. I enjoyed the depiction of what high school theatre feels like to the students involved. A lot of it felt familiar to the things I remember about being involved with school productions. However, as a reader who is also reviewing books to add to my school library, I felt as though the "foul" language was excessive- in part because they deem a group of kids "f-boys" and use the term frequently. For most this isn't a point of contention, and as a middle school librarian, no big deal to exclude from the collection- some books just need to wait until high school.

I'm a huge fan of several of Becky Albertalli's books, and so, upon hearing this newest book would debut next year with such a fun, engaging summary, I was super excited to actually read this. Also, because as a former theater kid and current theater nerd slash fangirl, this plot seemed right up my alley. Here, best friends Kate and Anderson do literally everything together, even share communal crushes that don't go anywhere. But when they both have huge, deep crushes on their theatre camp friend Matt, who just so happens to be new in school, everything goes crazy. Like, think "Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List" because we get sort of a similar situation. From the prologue, I was already so intrigued and desperate to find out the whole story. It's full of relatable and authentic language and characters that I'm so into it. This quick, one-sitting read is so easy to get sucked into from seeing Kate's confidence grow, watching things with her brother's best friend Noah blossom, and seeing her relationship with Anderson evolve as they all get older. It's so much fun, and so cute for a YA novel and like, eep, I definitely, actually, audibly squealed at one part.

Kate and her best friend, Andy, have always had communal crushes on the same boys, and their infatuation with summer camp actor Matt is no different. While some people think that falling in love is "a thing you're supposed to do on your own," Kate and Anderson think that sharing the feelings is more important than the outcome. Their codependent crushes, and their friendship, are put to the test when Matt transfers to their high school. They both have real feelings for him, feelings that might be the end of their lifelong friendship. Albertalli has once again created multi-dimensional, engaging characters that span the racial, gender, and sexual identity spectrum.

I'm actually a little bummed about this book. I love Becky Albertalli and pretty much though Simon was the best YA book I have ever read, but at this point, I am wondering if she is a bit of a one trick pony. Her characters seem to have the same struggles, lives that fixate primarily on crushes, and theater programs that are the secondary focus of their lives. Don't get me wrong: as a high school English teacher and the head of the drama program, this speaks to me, but I want something new from Albertalli.

I also felt she was trying too hard here. The slang was dated and she was using it in a way that felt more like she wanted people to notice than like teens would actually use it.

I am a huge fan of Albertalli's and what I love most is her ability to capture a high schooler's voice. The conversations and musings are authentic. She does not disappoint with Kate. I was a little put off by the excessive use of 'fuckboys' or 'f-boys'. At the beginning when the term was introduced I thought, "Yes!! That's totally an accurate depiction of who these boys are!" Then I got tired of reading the term over and over as it almost felt too trite. Nevertheless, I loved how fun of a story it was.

As a grown-up theater kid who now teachers theater, this book was everything 16 year old me wanted.

Kate and her squad are gearing up for their Junior Musical, a production of "Once Upon a Mattress." When a boy she & her best friend Andy had a crush on in camp moves to town and is cast as Kate's love interest in the show, their communal crush becomes incredibly difficult for them to navigate.

The emotional awareness of the characters in this book is so wonderful. They are dealing with so many hormones, and home dynamics and realizations about who they are, and the author writes them all so genuinely. Everything about their identities is accepted and validated, nothing questioned, and that is so essential to books for young adults.

It was also wonderful to see Kate & Andy prioritize their friendship over their budding relationships too. Platonic romance and friendship love are important to cultivate, and seeing it modeled so well for teenagers is awesome.

This book is great!