YA Review: Dungeons and Drama (Kristy Boyce)

High schooler Riley loves theater, and hopes one day to be a director, so the decision to borrow her mother’s car and drive to nearby Columbus from her small town with her best friend Hoshiko to see a production of Waitresses seemed like a perfectly good plan… except that she doesn’t have driver’s license! Her parents, who are busy and divorced but very involved in her life, ground her for two months. Not only that, but since she clearly can’t be trusted on her own, she has to spend every day after school working at her father’s game store, Sword and Board Games. Aside from spending the obligatory weekends with her father, Riley hasn’t seen much of him, but has a very close relationship with her mother, even going to some of her interior design jobs. Riley feels that her father chose the game store over her and her mother, so isn’t thrilled to be at the business. On top of that, she has an awkward interaction with employee and classmate Nathan, made worse when she talks with her ex-boyfriend, Paul, and claims to be unaffected by their breakup because she already has a new boyfriend. She doesn’t, of course, but claims that she and Nathan are dating. She convinces Nathan to go along with the ruse, because he is interested in Sophia, a member of the Dungeons and Dragons group, on whom Nathan has an unrequited crush. Sophia does seem more interested in Nathan when he flirts with Riley, so the two keep flirting in front of her. Of course, at school, they have to keep up appearances in case Paul shows up. Over time, the two bond over a shared love of frosted PopTarts, and Riley starts to realize the appeal of her father’s shop and the community that thrives there. She also enjoys Nathan’s attempts to inculcate a love of Geek Culture in her by exposing her to Weird Al Yankovic, LARPing costumes, and Monty Python movies. Riley is also busy trying to save the spring musical at school, but she is conscientious about keeping up with her school work. As time passes and Sophia seems more interested in Nathan, Riley finds to her chagrin that she is warming to him as well. When several situations make life stressful, including her father’s health crisis, to whom will Riley turn for help and comfort, especially when Paul makes it clear that he would like her back?