Twelfth

March 21, 2022
Beginning with a cast list and alternating between perspectives in the 1940s and 2015, Key’s debut mingles a rich tradition of theater history and superstition with a Berkshires camp setting and a summer production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” In 2015, rising seventh grader Maren Sands, her family’s “smarty-pants,” is experiencing quickly changing circumstances. With her musician father frequently on the road and her mother busy in Boston with her college-age sister Hadley, who is navigating depression, Maren is sent to Charlotte Goodman Theatre Camp—where Hadley once flourished, but where Maren feels out of place. It quickly becomes clear that the 60-year-old camp’s future is uncertain, thanks to the arrival of determined developers, and Maren soon falls into a mystery surrounding a fire, a missing diamond ring, and the camp’s late namesake, Charlotte “Charlie” Goodman. Alongside the puzzle, Maren navigates the murky waters of peer relationships, particularly with nonbinary bunkmate Theo Templeton, cued as Latinx, who lives life to the fullest. Deftly comparing past and present, the novel explores themes of gender identity and sexual orientation during Hollywood’s “Lavender Scare” and today. Most protagonists read as white; back matter offers real-life facts behind the novel and discusses gender diversity. Ages 8–12. Agent: Heather Rizzo, Rizzo Literary.