Nick Podehl

Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been best friends for years, bound together by an incredible, ongoing game of imagination. In their shared world of pirates and thieves, a creepy bone-china doll known as the Great Queen rules over everything. But middle school changes things. When Zach is pressured by his father to give up make-believe, he suddenly quits the game, leaving his friends behind and threatening to break their bond forever. The game takes a terrifying turn in the real world when Poppy begins having vivid, terrifying dreams about the Great Queen. She claims the doll is carrying the restless ghost of a girl named Eleanor, who will never find peace until her ashes are properly buried in a distant, empty grave. Setting off on a thrilling and eerie midnight journey across the country, the three friends must face their changing friendship and decide if the ghost is real or just another story.

One freezing night, in a highly unexpected corner of a Chicago adult video store, a teenager named Will Grayson crosses paths with another teenager named Will Grayson. Aside from sharing the exact same name, the two boys are completely different, running in wildly separate circles and dealing with entirely different sets of personal struggles. One Will is aggressively trying to live without caring about anything, while the other is battling deep depression and an incredibly complicated secret online relationship. When their isolated worlds violently collide, both Will Graysons find their lives forcefully redirected in new and completely surprising ways. Together, they are pushed toward major romantic turning points, deeply necessary self-discoveries, and the epic production of history’s most fabulous, over-the-top high school musical. Told in alternating chapters by two completely distinct narrative voices, this hilarious and poignant collaboration is brimming with profound insight. It masterfully explores the messy reality of identity, the terrifying vulnerability of opening up to others, and the absolute importance of standing up for your friends.