Four teenage girls, countless hours spent playing The Sims, and the complicated realities of growing up. In Dad Don't Read This, playwright Eliya Smith and director Chloe Claudel deliver an energetic, funny, and surprisingly poignant portrait of friendship, adolescence, and the search for control.

Frida Slattery as Herself follows an actress and a director whose relationship stretches across years of collaborations, breakups, and missed opportunities. Ana Kinsella excels at capturing the restless nature of creative ambition and the strange people who linger in our lives long after they should have faded away.

A childhood diary, a Christian summer camp, and a bizarre connection to Wild Wild Country make Wild Wild Christian one of the most unexpectedly entertaining solo shows we've seen this year. Funny, charming, and occasionally touching, Simone McAlonen transforms her unconventional upbringing into a comedy that feels tailor-made for Fringe audiences.

Good News by Alexa Yasemin Brahme is filled with fascinating artists, inventive installations, and a protagonist in freefall. While the novel's art world feels vividly realized, its central character remains frustratingly opaque, making for a three-star read we admired more than we loved.

With its unforgettable depiction of Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City and a haunting vision of the afterlife, The Girl with a Thousand Faces is the kind of novel that stays with you long after you've finished reading.