Recommended by Claudia Haas

Mabley gives us a tale of teens in flux. Teens where progress has been made. Teens who need more progress. And teens who needed the future so much that they denied their past and present. A coming-of-age tale centered around a relic that serves as a different metaphor for each teen, there is an unspoken wish for each character that needs to be proclaimed - so that each can character can be who they were meant to be. Mabley has the gift of seeing all identities and embracing all.

Advice: Best read in a well lit room with lots of others … maybe not “others” maybe humans nearby. Because the “others” are waiting. And I’m sleeping with the lights on tonight. A true ghost story for any night of the year that you want to spook yourself. Or “others.”

This would be a heckuva lot of fun to stage. A smartly-planned woman’s independence day goes awry and some truths come home. But before any of the truths is wacky mayhem and action-packed chaos. And one of the truths is - we’ve all been n the center of that chaos. We just hate to admit it.

As a Queens lady who attended many bar mitvahs and holy communions and confirmations in the 60’s and 70’s, this play spoke to me personally. I lived through all of Karp’s occasions from the World’s Fair to the Mets to Stonewall. I also grew up knowing that every passage is personal. Every passage is a step towards growth. And we all have our own journey. Karp’s journey is one of hope. Even when hope breaks you.

I just had a smile on my face the entire time I read this. It’s an ode to a city, to beloved characters, to sports, and to whatever is in your heart. Floyd-Priskorn turns out to be the ultimate tour guide. After reading this, you’ll be booking a flight to Detroit.

Cathro deftly captures a sibling relationship. The sisters are smart, edgy, and both have a gift for one-upmanship. Social media is a permanent way to cement a rivalry. Cathro makes me wish for the olden days when you could be stupid in an argument and the ramifications are not headline news.

There’s a dream world here for sustenance. And a real world that requires a sense of humor to maintain. O’Neill-Butler skillfully weaves both worlds into one and you realize you can’t have one world without the other. Keep your life. Keep your dreams. Who knows? The ending may bring you a unicorn.

And just when you think you know what’s going on, Blevins sends you a curve ball and you start having new epiphanies. Isn’t that what a good ghost story will do? Send you up paths unknown? Witty, unexpected pleasures and don’t be surprised if you’re watching Poltergeist later (such a good choice) while eating pistachio nuts.

Seasons end. And so the life of Prince Hal ends as he makes ready to be King Henry V. Blevins gives us a good-bye to youth that is a good-bye to everything and everyone that Hal loved. There is a high price to pay in becoming a king. Blevins shows us how this king paid with his true life. And all that he loved. I would love to see this in combo with some of the Hal=Henry V history plays.

Miller makes you yearn for that perfect moment in summer, for when love was sweet and uncomplicated… for a time that maybe never existed but it exists in our dreams.