
Limelight
Penguin Young Readers Group · Print & ebook · February 24, 2026
A Young Adult pick for readers exploring Limelight.
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- Genres
- Theater & Musicals for Teens, YA LGBTQ+, YA Romance - LGBTQ+
- Published
- Penguin Young Readers Group, February 24, 2026
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For older readers: Disco Witches of Fire Island, Everywhere You Don't Belong, Rent
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Fame meets Rent in this powerful YA debut about a boy who must reconcile with his identity and insecurity as he steps into the spotlight, from Broadway star Andrew Keenan-Bolger. The only thing standing between Danny and his dreams is…everything. For fifteen years, Danny Victorio has kept his head down, kept his mouth shut, and kept everyone out.
Continue reading
But an audition for Manhattan’s most prestigious arts school offers him a chance to escape Staten Island—and his crumbling family—for good. If he doesn’t screw everything up. At LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, Danny is thrust into a world of fierce talent and even fiercer ambition. As he navigates overwhelming expectations, the ghosts of his past, and, for the first time, real friendship, Danny can’t shake the question: Where do I belong…if I belong at all? Set against the gritty, vibrant backdrop of 1996 New York City—where peep-show palaces were giving way to Disney stores, “Club Kids” ruled the nightlife scene, and a new musical called Rent was driving teens to sleep on the seediest sidewalks of Times Square in hopes of a ticket—Limelight is a story about discovering your voice, finding your family, and figuring out who, and where, you’re really meant to be.
Stage Lights
Come here for
- warm, realistic romance
- theater-and-music-adjacent YA
Expect
- YA category browsing
- a steady, intimate tone
Where it sits
| Theater & Musicals for Teens | 80% |
|---|---|
| YA LGBTQ+ | 52% |
| YA Romance - LGBTQ+ | 42% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Coming of Age
- 20th-Century US YA
- Theater & Musicals for Teens
- Authors
- Andrew Keenan-Bolger
- Publisher
- Penguin Young Readers Group
- Published
- February 24, 2026
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Reading lane
- Coming of Age