An eighth-grader who dreams of performing in a Broadway musical concocts a plan to run away to New York and audition for the role of Elliot in the musical version of "E.T."--

While fleeing from the cops, small time hood Harry Lockhart stumbles into an acting audition and does so well he gets sent to Hollywood. While there, Harry pursues a girl he loved in high school and gets caught up in a twisted murder mystery. His only chance of getting out alive is a gay private detective named Gay Perry, who also works as a consultant for movies and has been hired to tutor Harry in portraying a private eye.

"When best friends Metai and Jamila are reunited after a summer apart, their friendship threatens to combust from the pressure of secrets, middle school, and looming auditions for a potentially life-changing new talented-and-gifted program. Jamila Phillips and Tai Johnson have been inseparable since they were toddlers, having grown up across the street from each other in Pirates Cove, a low-income housing project. As summer comes to an end, Tai can't...