Acting Out

With a star-studded lineup of writers, there's a stage full of drama, comedy, and great storytelling waiting behind these curtains Sharon Creech spoofs a publishing office in "The Raven," and the environment fights back against overdevelopment in Susan Cooper's "The Dollop." Patricia MacLachlan puts a twist on detention in "The Bad Room," and Katherine Paterson revives a classic fairy tale in "The Billionaire and the Bird." Richard Peck has schoolboys doing their best to trick a spooky substitute in "Effigy in the Outhouse," and Avi's "Not Seeing Is Believing "has words playing tricks on everybody. There's something for everyone in this all-star lineup.