The Dark Cove Theatre Society

According to the alleged curse of Canadian boarding school Dark Cove Academy for the Fine Arts, each year, one Theatre Society affiliate mysteriously disappears from the institution’s remote British Columbia island grounds. Though anxious scholarship student Violet, 16, isn’t a society member, her classmates taunt her with the legend (“A weak link breaks before October’s end”), referencing her panic attack onstage during a performance freshman year that put her scholarship in jeopardy and marked her as an outcast. Violet is therefore astonished to be cast alongside former crush Hunter and “resident ingenue” Frankie in a Halloween production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream­—and to land a spot in the illustrious Theatre Society. As Violet manages mounting anxiety­—about rigorous rehearsals and avoiding the curse—conversational first-person narration swiftly unspools intersecting plotlines involving a queer love triangle/showmance mashup and mysterious society social trappings. The island setting’s stormy seas imagery evokes gothic ambiance, making actor Riley’s yearning debut mystery a treat for theater-loving teens seeking on- and offstage drama. Violet is Italian Canadian. Ages 12–up. Agent: Amanda Orozco, Transatlantic Literary. (Oct.)