Book Recs: Books to Read Based on Your Favorite Musicals

Happy World Theatre Day my friends! Today is one of my favorite days because, and I truly am not exaggerating here, theatre is my life. I was in my first musical when I was 15, and since then I have been in over 15 shows, and worked on over 30 shows (including directing and stage managing) and my day job is running the education department at a theatre company. I really do live and breathe theatre.

As I will take any opportunity I can to combine theatre and reading — two of my favorite things(if you read that to the tune of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music, bonus points to you!) — I thought it would be fun to do a book recs post based on some of my favorite musicals!

If you like Mamma Mia, you should read When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord

To be completely honest, I am a Mamma Mia stan first and a human second. I mean who doesn’t wish that they were wearing a flowing bohemian dress while running around a beach in Santorini singing ABBA songs? Truly, it is the dream! 

Emma Lord’s latest novel When You Get the Chance follows sixteen year-old Millie Price, who dreams of performing on Broadway. After being accepted into a prestigious pre-college Musical Theatre program, Millie is determined to find out who her birth mother is. With the help of her best friend, she reaches out to the three women who could possibly be her mother. If the plot sounds familiar to you it should, because this is in fact a book inspired by the plot of Mamma Mia! If you’re looking for a book that’ll make you laugh out loud and tug at your heartstrings just like the ABBA musical, then this is absolutely the book for you! You can check out my full review here for more reasons on why I absolutely loved this book!

Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.

There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?

Links for When You Get the Chance: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Little Shop of Horrors, you should read This Poison Heart by Kaylnn Bayron

Okay, I won’t lie, a solid 70% of my reasoning here is because both stories center around plants. But, I do think that if you like Little Shop of Horrors, you’ll enjoy This Poison Heart. Bri and Seymour both feel slightly out of place where they are, wish to find a place where they belong, and find comfort and solace with their plants. However, both deal with some unexpected surprises as their stories continue.

Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron’s new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power.

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.

When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage.

When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri’s sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.

From the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead comes another inspiring and deeply compelling story about a young woman with the power to conquer the dark forces descending around her.

Links for This Poison Heart: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Hadestown, you should read When Night Breaks by Janella Angeles

If you’re a fan of Hadestown then you probably love drama, intrigue, mystery and magic. If you do, then Janella Angeles’ When Night Breaks is the book for you! When Night Breaks is the second book in the Kingdom of Cards series, and it’s loosely inspired by Hadestown so the feeling is absolutely there! 

After the events of the first book in the series — Where Dreams Descend, the stakes have been raised and there is drama all around. Hadestown is full of high stakes right off the bat, and that feeling of urgency from the beginning is in When Night Breaks as well. There were characters in When Night Breaks that really reminded me of Hades and Hermes, and you can definitely feel the Hadestown vibes throughout the book! 

The competition has come to a disastrous end, and Daron Demarco’s fall from grace is now front page news. But little matters to him beyond Kallia, the contestant he fell for who is now lost to this world and in the hands of a dangerous magician. Daron is willing to do whatever it takes to find her. Even if it means embarking on a dark and treacherous journey, risking more than just his life, with no promise of return.

After awaking in darkness, Kallia has never felt more lost. Especially with Jack by her side, the magician with who has the answers but cannot be trusted. Together, they must navigate a dazzling world where mirrors show memories and illusions shadow every corner, one ruled by a powerful game master who could all too easily destroy the world she left behind — and the boy she can’t seem to forget. With time running out, Kallia must embrace her role in a darker destiny, or lose everyone she loves, forever.

Links for When Night Breaks: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Bandstand, you should read Some Other Now by Sarah Everett

When I think of my beloved Bandstand, I think of persevering through difficult situations, found family, and healing. Those overall themes that are so important to the story of Bandstand can be found in Sarah Evertt’s Some Other Now.

From the start Some Other Now captivated me and I didn’t want to put it down! Some Other Now gives me a lot of Just Like It Was Before vibes, especially since the book features chapters that are set in the past. The relationship that Jessi has with Mel Choen reminds me a bit of the beautiful mother/daughter relationship that Julia and June have in Bandstand. You can read my full review of Some Other Now here, but if you want a book that’ll invoke those same emotions that Bandstand does, I highly recommend this one!

This Is Us for teens, this luminous and heartbreaking contemporary novel follows a girl caught between two brothers as the three of them navigate family, loss, and love over the course of two summers. For fans of Far From the Tree, Emergency Contact, and Nina LaCour.

Before she kissed one of the Cohen boys, seventeen-year-old Jessi Rumfield knew what it was like to have a family—even if, technically, that family didn’t belong to her. She’d spent her childhood in the house next door, challenging Rowan Cohen to tennis matches while his older brother, Luke, studied in the background and Mel watched over the three like the mother Jessi always wished she had.

But then everything changed. It’s been almost a year since Jessi last visited the Cohen house. Rowan is gone. Mel is in remission and Luke hates Jessi for the role she played in breaking his family apart. Now Jessi spends her days at a dead-end summer job avoiding her real mother, who suddenly wants to play a role in Jessi’s life after being absent for so long. But when Luke comes home from college, it’s hard to ignore the past. And when he asks Jessi to pretend to be his girlfriend for the final months of Mel’s life, Jessi finds herself drawn back into the world of the Cohens. Everything’s changed, but Jessi can’t help wanting to be a Cohen, even if it means playing pretend for one final summer.

Links for Some Other Now: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Anastasia, you should read Daughters of a Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O’Neil

I’ve been obsessed with the story of Anastasia since I was a little girl and I’m always looking for a good retelling/reimagining and Daughters of a Dead Empire was truly wonderful.

As I type this, I’ve just finished reading the book so I have not fully formed my thoughts, but wow. I cannot more highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Anastasia and the story of the Romanovs. It is truthful and honest and at times really difficult to read (major trigger warnings for death, abuse and trauma) but it tells an important story that I think any fan of history would be interested to read. Anya’s characterization throughout the book reminded me of her characterization throughout the musical, which I really appreciated. There is also a great enemies to friends dynamic between Anya and Evgenia that is very similar to the relationship Anya and Dmitry have, without the romantic plot. 

An alternate history set during the Russian Revolution.

Russia, 1918: With the execution of Tsar Nicholas, the empire crumbles and Russia is on the edge of civil war—the poor are devouring the rich. Anna, a bourgeois girl, narrowly escaped the massacre of her entire family in Yekaterinburg. Desperate to get away from the Bolsheviks, she offers a peasant girl a diamond to take her as far south as possible—not realizing that the girl is a communist herself. With her brother in desperate need of a doctor, Evgenia accepts Anna’s offer and suddenly finds herself on the wrong side of the war.

Anna is being hunted by the Bolsheviks, and now—regardless of her loyalties—Evgenia is too.

Links for Daughters of a Dead Empire: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Newsies, you should read Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach

Not Here to Be Liked was one of my favorites books that I read in 2021, and honestly, I think about it all the time. Truthfully, it took me a while to figure out a book to pair with Newsies – so a huge thank you to Cossette for helping me with this one – but I feel that it just makes sense to pair these two!

Not Here to Be Liked follows high school junior Eliza Quan, who after losing the election for editor in chief for her school newspaper, finds herself at the center of the student body’s discussions of racism, sexisim, and equality dynamics at their school. With Eliza being a journalist and fighting for equality in what is considered a boy’s club, I was absolutely reminded of my best girl Katherine Plumber! Plus, we love a strong group of friends standing up for what they believe in which is a central theme in both stories. Additionally, there’s a great enemies/rivals to lovers storyline between Eliza and Len that for sure has some Jack and Katherine vibes! You can check out my full review of the book here, and if you’re a fan of Newsies, I think you’ll love Not Here to Be Liked. 

A novel that unpacks just how complicated new love can get…when you fall for your enemy.

Eliza Quan is the perfect candidate for editor in chief of her school paper. That is, until ex-jock Len DiMartile decides on a whim to run against her. Suddenly her vast qualifications mean squat because inexperienced Len—who is tall, handsome, and male—just seems more like a leader.

When Eliza’s frustration spills out in a viral essay, she finds herself inspiring a feminist movement she never meant to start, caught between those who believe she’s a gender equality champion and others who think she’s simply crying misogyny.

Amid this growing tension, the school asks Eliza and Len to work side by side to demonstrate civility. But as they get to know one another, Eliza feels increasingly trapped by a horrifying realization—she just might be falling for the face of the patriarchy himself.

Links for Not Here to Be Liked: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Catch Me if You Can, you should read The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe

The Girls I’ve Been is a fast-paced novel filled with twists and turns from start to finish. It’s been a while since I’ve read this one (I really need to do a reread), but every so often I find myself thinking about it and I’m still mind blown. 

Although The Girls I’ve Been has a much darker tone than Catch Me If You Can, they have really similar themes, which makes me think that if you’re intrigued by the story of Frank Abangle, Jr., you’ll be just as intrigued by Nora O’Malley. Both stories have themes of assuming different identities, living life on the run, and complicated family dynamics, so I felt that they needed to be paired together. You can read my full review of The Girls I’ve Been here!

A deliciously commercial YA page-turner about the daughter of a con artist who is taken hostage in a bank heist.

Nora O’Malley is a lot of things. A sister. An ex. A secret girlfriend. Kind of crooked, but reformed… somewhat.

Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up her mother’s protege. But when mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.

For five years she’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:

#1: her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’ve all been inseparable for months, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.

#2: The morning after, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised together. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly.

Because #3: right after they get in the bank, two guys start robbing it.

But they have no idea who they’re really holding hostage.

The robbers are trouble. Nora’s something else entirely.

Links for The Girls I’ve Been: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Waitress, you should read The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta

Waitress is one of my ultimate comfort musicals, so when I was trying to think of a book to pair with it, I knew I wanted a story that felt comforting and safe. Pretty quickly after I started The Heartbreak Bakery, I just knew that it would be the perfect book to pair with Waitress!

Both Syd and Jenna have a love for baking and use baking as a way to cope with what is going on in their lives. As someone who also bakes when life gets a little crazy and finds comfort in it, I absolutely relate to that. If you’ve seen Waitress, you’ll know that throughout the musical there are moments where we’re fully inside Jenna’s head as she creates a recipe. Some of these recipes are legitimate recipes and others are a mashup of ingredients that sum up whatever situation that she’s going through currently. The Heartbreak Bakery uses the same storytelling devices and it brought the biggest smile to my face! I think that if you’re a fan of Waitress, you’ll enjoy The Heartbreak Bakery. 

Teenage baker Syd sends ripples of heartbreak through Austin’s queer community when a batch of post-being-dumped brownies turns out to be magical—and makes everyone who eats them break up.

“What’s done is done.”

Unless, of course, it was done by my brownies. Then it’s getting undone.

Syd (no pronouns, please) has always dealt with big, hard-to-talk-about things by baking. Being dumped is no different, except now Syd is baking at the Proud Muffin, a queer bakery and community space in Austin. And everyone who eats Syd’s breakup brownies . . . breaks up. Even Vin and Alec, who own the Proud Muffin. And their breakup might take the bakery down with it. Being dumped is one thing; causing ripples of queer heartbreak through the community is another. But the cute bike delivery person, Harley (he or they, check the pronoun pin, it’s probably on the messenger bag), believes Syd about the magic baking. And Harley believes Syd’s magical baking can fix things, too—one recipe at a time.

Links for The Heartbreak Bakery: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

If you like Les Misérables, you should read A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

While I definitely recommend reading the book of Les Misérables if you haven’t done so, I absolutely understand how this 1,000+ page book can be intimidating! If you love the story of Les Misérables then you should absolutely read Christina Soontornvat’s fantastic middle grade novel, A Wish in the Dark.

A Wish in the Dark is a retelling of Les Misérables that is set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world and it is absolutely thrilling! I went through the entire audiobook at work one day because I simply could not stop listening. While A Wish in the Dark is a middle grade novel, it doesn’t read that way – this is not shade to middle grade novels, I’ve read some fantastic ones in the last few years – this book is filled to the brim with nuance, pristine character development and powerful messages, just like it’s inspiration material. In fact, one of my favorite things about the book is how the themes of police brutality, revolution, and poverty (to name a few) are written in such a way that not only reflects their importance, but also presents them in a way that will be understandable and accessible to younger readers. I could clearly see how Soontornvat drew character inspiration from Jean Valjean, Javert, Bishop Myriel, Enjolras, and other beloved characters in Les Misérables without making them carbon copies. I truly believe that if you love Les Misérables you will love this book as well.

A boy on the run. A girl determined to find him.

All light in Chattana is created by one man — the Governor, who appeared after the Great Fire to bring peace and order to the city. For Pong, who was born in Namwon Prison, the magical lights represent freedom, and he dreams of the day he will be able to walk among them. But when Pong escapes from prison, he realizes that the world outside is no fairer than the one behind bars. The wealthy dine and dance under bright orb light, while the poor toil away in darkness. Worst of all, Pong’s prison tattoo marks him as a fugitive who can never be truly free.

Nok, the prison warden’s perfect daughter, is bent on tracking Pong down and restoring her family’s good name. But as Nok hunts Pong through the alleys and canals of Chattana, she uncovers secrets that make her question the truths she has always held dear. Set in a Thai-inspired fantasy world, and inspired by Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.

Links for A Wish in the Dark: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

I also wanted to mention two fantastic middle grade novels written by Broadway actors that have been released in the last year. 

The Chance to Fly by Ali Stroker and Stacy Davidowitz

In April of 2021, Tony Award Winner Ali Stroker (Deaf West Spring Awakening, Oklahoma!) released her debut middle grade novel with Stacy Davidowitz, The Chance to Fly. The Chance to Fly centers around thirteen-year-old Nat Beacon who is obsessed with musical theatre, but worries that there isn’t a place for her as an actor in a wheelchair. This book is a love letter to the theatre. Nat’s honest love and passion for theatre is so beautiful, and in that way, she fully reminded me of myself. Nat is a wonderful main character. She’s funny, smart, dedicated, kind, loving and above all she is fearless. I was incredibly inspired by her drive and how she would not let anything stop her from achieving her goals. 

This book had me grinning from ear to ear, laughing, crying, and just thoroughly enjoying myself. It’s been a while since I read it last, but writing this now makes me want to read it again as soon as possible because I was simply inspired by this story.

A heartfelt middle-grade novel about a theater-loving girl who uses a wheelchair for mobility and her quest to defy expectations—and gravity—from Tony award–winning actress Ali Stroker and Stacy Davidowitz

Thirteen-year-old Nat Beacon loves a lot of things: her dog Warbucks, her best friend Chloe, and competing on her wheelchair racing team, the Zoomers, to name a few. But there’s one thing she’s absolutely OBSESSED with: MUSICALS! From Hamilton to Les Mis, there’s not a cast album she hasn’t memorized and belted along to. She’s never actually been in a musical though, or even seen an actor who uses a wheelchair for mobility on stage. Would someone like Nat ever get cast?

But when Nat’s family moves from California to New Jersey, Nat stumbles upon auditions for a kids’ production of Wicked, one of her favorite musicals ever! And she gets into the ensemble! The other cast members are super cool and inclusive (well, most of them)— especially Malik, the male lead and cutest boy Nat’s ever seen. But when things go awry a week before opening night, will Nat be able to cast her fears and insecurities aside and “Defy Gravity” in every sense of the song title?

Links for The Chance to Fly: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Fearless by Mandy Gonzalez

April 2021 was a great time for theatre fans who love to read! Mandy Gonzalez (In the Heights, Wicked, Hamilton) released her debut novel, Fearless.

Fearless follows twelve-year-old Monica Garcia as she makes her Broadway debut in the cursed Ethel Merman Theater. Now, we know how much I love theatre and we know how much I love mystery novels, so this book really felt like it was made for me! This book was so fun and exciting, I totally loved it. I’m super excited for the sequel, Boulevard of Dreams, which will be released on April 5th! If you like mysteries you definitely have to check this one out!

Better Nate than Ever meets Love Sugar Magic in this spooky middle grade novel from Hamilton and Broadway star Mandy Gonzalez about a group of young thespians who must face the ghost haunting their theater.

The Ethel Merman Theater is cursed. No one is sure how or why, but the evidence speaks for itself. Show after show has flopped and the theater is about to close. Enter twelve-year-old Monica Garcia, who has been cast to star in a Broadway musical revival of The Goonies, the theater’s last chance to produce a hit before it shutters its doors for good.

The kids in the cast each have their own reasons for wanting to make the show a success, and all eyes in the theater world are on them. Will this show finally break the curse of the Ethel? The kids aren’t quite sure if the curse is even real, but when their first performance doesn’t quite go as planned, it certainly feels that way.

Then they realize the ghost light—the light that is always kept on at every theater in order to appease the ghosts—wasn’t lit! When the kids rush to flick the switch back on, they find themselves locked in the theater—but that’s the least of their problems when the ghost of the Ethel makes her debut appearance!

Can the cast overcome their fears and reverse the ghost’s curse before opening night so they can save the show—and their dreams?

Links for Fearless: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

I hope you enjoyed this list of book recommendations and learning a bit about some of my favorite musicals! Are you a fan of musicals? Let me know in the comments below which are your favorites, or if you’ve read any of these books!