The aughts YA boom was in full flower in 2017, when Harvard grad Tomi Adeyemi sold her first book: a fantasy novel that would eventually be titled Children of Blood and Bone, inspired by West Africa. Before the book was even published, she’d also sold the film rights. It was a dream scenario for any debut writer—until this year, when Adeyemi began publicly and vehemently distancing herself from the Blood and Bone adaptation, calling it “the worst thing I have ever had to live through.” What happened? “The answer may trace back to a controversial casting and tension on set,” Rebecca Ford writes in her thorough investigation of the project’s behind-the-scenes drama. But don’t stop at this TL;DR—you’ll want to read the whole thing.

If that’s not intense enough for you, how about a play about Israel? Hannah Seligson talked to Tony winner Jonathan Spector about his new theater sensation Birthright, which might be the first work of fiction to capture the great rupture in the American Jewish community that’s happened since October 7, 2023. And for good measure, Kase Wickman also has a rundown of how WNBA player Sophie Cunningham became a MAGA darling. (Hint: It involves discourse about trans athletes.) I’m going to lie down for a bit. More tomorrow!