Embedded Files
Main Character
Main Character
Representation
Representation
Gay main character identity.
Summary
Third time’s a charm! Nate Foster returns home to Jankburg, Pennsylvania, to face his biggest challenge yet—high school—in this final novel in the Lambda Literary Award–winning Nate trilogy, which The New York Times calls “inspired and inspiring.”
When the news hits that E.T.: The Musical wasn’t nominated for a single Tony Award—not one!—the show closes, leaving Nate both out of luck and out of a job. And while Nate’s cast mates are eager to move on (the boy he understudies already landed a role on a TV show!), Nate knows it’s back to square one, also known as Jankburg, Pennsylvania. Where horror (read: high school) awaits.
Desperate to turn his life from flop to fabulous, Nate takes on a huge freshman English project with his BFF, Libby: he’s going to make a musical out of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations. (What could possibly go…right?) But when Nate’s New York crush ghosts him, and his grades start to slip, he finds the only thing harder than being on Broadway is being a freshman — especially when you’ve got a secret you’re desperate to sing out about.
This magical conclusion to Tim Federle’s beloved Nate series is a love letter to theater kids young and not-so-young—and for anyone who ever wondered if they could truly go home again. Especially when doing so means facing everything you thought you’d left behind.
Student Reviews
Trigger Warnings
Trigger Warnings
Homophobic Slurs
Bullying
Homophobia
What parents need to know
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Nate Expectations is Tim Federle's third and final book about a small-town boy with Broadway dreams. (The trilogy started with Better Nate Than Ever.) Now 14, Nate Foster has to leave New York City and return to a family and community where he feels he doesn't belong. Nate's parents are emotionally distant, and Nate turns to his friend Libby for support. Nate has a secret relationship with another boy -- there's a little talk of kissing but mostly a lot of FaceTime -- but he hasn't come out to his family. As he adjusts to his hometown high school, Nate helps build a supportive community and safe space by treating classmates with kindness and generosity.
Author Info
Author Info
Tim Federle is the showrunner and executive producer of "High School Musical: the Musical: the Series," which he created for Disney+. His novels include the New York Times Notable Book "Better Nate Than Ever" and its Lambda Literature Award–winning sequel—which Lin-Manuel Miranda called “a wonderful evocation of what it’s like to be a theater kid” (New York Times). A film adaptation of Nate, written and directed by Federle, premiered on Disney+ on April 1, 2022. The film stars Aria Brooks, Joshua Bassett, Lisa Kudrow, and Rueby Wood as Nate.
Tim’s hit series of cocktail recipe books, including "Tequila Mockingbird," have sold over half a million copies worldwide. He cowrote the Broadway musical adaptation of "Tuck Everlasting," and won the Humanitas Prize for cowriting the Golden Globe and Academy Award–nominated Best Animated Feature "Ferdinand," starring John Cena and Kate McKinnon.
A former Broadway dancer, Tim was born in San Francisco, grew up in Pittsburgh, and now divides his time between Los Angeles and the internet.
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