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Cover blurbs are something I rarely take note of, but Tim Federle's debut, Better Nate Than Ever, is an exception. If your book is praised by Alan Menken—perhaps my all-time favorite composer of movie music—and James Howe—one of my favorite authors—you can count on my attention for what's inside the book. Thirteen-year-old Nate Foster is making a bold move to shake up his small-town existence in Jankburg, Pennsylvania. After hearing about auditions in New York City for E.T.: The Musical, Nate's best friend Libby helps him sneak away from home and board a bus to the Big Apple. Nate's parents are on an all-day outing for their wedding anniversary, so with luck he can make it home before they know he's gone. If Nate earns the role of Elliott in the musical, it could be his life's defining event.

Not only do Nate's parents look at him askance for his passionate interest in musical theater, they're overprotective. He's never traveled, so every aspect of his solo trip to New York throws him for a loop. Purchasing bus fare, keeping his Nokia flip phone adequately charged, and finding the audition site prove more difficult than anticipated. Nate hopes Libby can stall his parents if they discover he's missing, but he can't worry about that once he's at the casting call with a hundred kids more experienced than he. The showbiz types in charge of tryouts are ruthless professionals, so Nate has to stand out in a big way if he's to get a second glance.

Allies aren't impossible to find. Jordan Rylance, a theater kid friend of Libby's, is friendly enough. Nate's aunt Heidi lives in New York City and can be called upon for backup in an emergency, a plan Nate will have need of to circumvent the unexpected requirement for an adult guardian. Auditioning for a major musical is dog-eat-dog, as Heidi discovered when she left Jankburg years ago to fulfill her own acting ambitions, but Nate can navigate this road if he's afforded a small amount of understanding. He's not your typical boy, favoring song and dance over sports, but he may have found his people here on Broadway. Can Nate prove his name belongs in lights on the marquee?

I like Tim Federle's fun, sassy energy. He's got the juice to write a good middle-grade novel, the insight to craft a character like Nate, and the instinct to create a journey that's realistic without stopping the plot short of where it wants to go. I rate Better Nate Than Ever two and a half stars; it isn't profound enough for more, but succeeds as entertainment. The cliffhanger it ends on has me curious what Five, Six, Seven, Nate! will be about.