From Broadway to your bookshelf

Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke with Susan Smelser from The Book Worm in Powder Springs, Ga."Dear Evan Hansen" is a smash Broadway musical — and now it's a novel, too.Bookseller Susan Smelser recommends the adaptation of "Dear Evan Hansen," which takes on the very difficult topic of teen suicide.Evan Hansen is a high schooler who feels totally alone and isolated. When another so-called "outcast" teen dies by suicide, Evan finds himself pretending to have been his best friend.One lie gives way to another, and Evan's whole life is upturned. Suddenly "everything that Evan Hansen did was so that he could keep this lie going," Smelser said.Despite taking on a heavy subject, the book brings a fresh look, Smelser said. "It's light-hearted, but there's just so many lessons to be learned." Dear Evan HansenDear Evan Hansen