Though fans of the ghostly teen dramedy were dealt a low blow when Netflix opted to cancel Julie And The Phantoms in late 2021, there is some good news. The nine-episode series on the streaming platform isn't the only Julie And The Phantoms content out there. Scholastic has actually released three books that tie into the series and fit within the canon of the show.
The first, titled Edge Of Great, was a novelization of the series, filling in a few gaps for fans who have seen the show. The second, Whatever Happens, is set following the final performance in the series as Julie and Luke tell one another stories from before they knew one another. The third, We Got The Music, is a recreation of Julie Molina's notebook with all kinds of fun content for fans, including song lyrics and setlists. Each of the books has information in it that fans don't get from the show, and fans will definitely benefit from all those extra details.
Julie's Crush On Nick Is Because Of Luke
Throughout the show, Julie admits to having been crushing on Nick forever, and Flynn encourages her to be more friendly with him, after he breaks up with Carrie, of course. The novels even tell the audience that Carrie knew Julie had a crush on Nick before Carrie started dating him, but that's not all they reveal.
Both Whatever Happens and We Got The Music share a surprising detail about the reason Julie likes Nick. She started crushing on him when he played one of Trevor Wilson's old songs on his guitar. Fans of the show will know that Trevor Wilson's old music was actually written by Luke Patterson. It's Luke's music that helps Julie fall in love with rock, and fall for Nick - until she meets the actual songwriter.
Flynn Is A BLACKPINK Fan
One of the most interesting aspects of We Got The Music is that it's filled with playlists for the main characters. Flynn's playlist is all about boosting confidence, and the first song on it is "How You Like That" by K-Pop group BLACKPINK.
Reggie, as expected, has quite a bit of country on his playlist, while Luke favors artists like Nirvana and Green Day. Alex uses The Beatles and Phil Collins to relax and Julie turns to Queen and Ariana Grande to get inspired. The various playlists shared in the book are incredibly eclectic and will be great ways for fans to get inside the heads of their favorite characters.
Carlos Thinks The Neighbor Is A Lizard Person
Carlos provides a great mix of drama and support for his big sister Julie in the series. Much of his storyline is devoted to his desire to prove that ghosts exist in the streaming series. He does, however, have an interest in other paranormal and science fiction topics in the books.
According to Julie, he thinks some people are actually lizards, which is actually a popular conspiracy theory used in plenty of science fiction projects. One of the people he thinks might actually be a lizard in disguise? Their next-door neighbor, who is never seen in the show.
Julie Is Frequently Featured In Her School Paper
Most of Julie's storylines at school are concentrated on her desire to get back into the music program, and later, in her interactions with Nick. The audience doesn't get to see much of the rest of her high school experience. What We Got The Music shows the fans, through a few clips placed in Julie's notebook, is that her singing "Bright" with her new friends gets her in the school paper.
Called The Bobcat Claw Times, the paper features Julie and her up-and-coming band a few times, making specific note of her coming back to music and her not being able to get the guys to perform at the dance. Flynn even gets interviewed for the school paper about her role behind the scenes. It's enough to make the audience wonder if the members of Dirty Candi are regular features as well.
Flynn And Julie Have Been Friends Since They Were Six
The series makes it clear that fan-favorite Flynn and Julie have been best friends for years. If they really wanted to know when Double Trouble started though, the books make that clear: the two met when they were only six years old.
It's never made clear if Flynn and Carrie were friends at one point since Julie and Carrie were particularly close, but it is revealed that Julie and Flynn have written music together, just like she does with her mom and Luke in the series.
Luke Worked At A Diner In The '90s
Fans will remember that Luke Patterson didn't have parents who supported his dreams of music and he ran away from home, spending most of his time living out of the same studio where Sunset Curve rehearsed. He also, however, had a job.
Whatever Happens reveals that even while trying to make it big, Luke was the one working and taking the band members to concerts. They even attend a Foo Fighters concert courtesy of Luke and the money he made from working at a diner the day before Luke, Reggie, and Alex died.
Alex's Signature Color Is Because Of A Laundry Mishap
Because the titular Phantoms are ghosts, they don't have to change their clothes frequently. The sweatshirt and T-shirt that Alex wears most often in the show, however, are both pink, giving him a signature color, since that's also the color of the suit jacket Caleb gives him in the finale.
Alex's signature color, however, is actually an accident. In Whatever Happens, he discovers a red sock has turned most of his clothes a light shade of pink, something he doesn't entirely have a problem with since he likes the color anyway, and he still decides to wear his lucky shirt to the gig at the Orpheum.
Reggie Plays Dungeons & Dragons
When it comes to her new ghost friends, Julie terms Reggie's normal ghost status "questionable" at the start of the series. As the audience gets to know him, he's more than just the comic relief. Sure, he's not the smartest member of Julie And The Phantoms, but he has a deep love for nerd culture, like the Star Wars universe.
It should come as no surprise to fans then that the books reveal he used to play Dungeons & Dragons. He makes Julie promise never to tell anyone that particular secret, but he'd probably be impressed with projects like Critical Role making the game more mainstream.
Julie Doesn't Originally Imagine "Perfect Harmony"
Because Edge Of Great rewrites the nine episodes of the show into an easily digestible book, its performance scenes are usually a little shorter than what appears in the show. "Perfect Harmony," however, the song included in the daydream Julie has while dancing with Nick in class, doesn't appear in that book at all.
That's likely because the song, written by stars Madison Reyes and Charlie Gillespie, was composed and recorded while the show was in production, likely after the book was already being written. Julie's daydream is left up to the imagination of the reader as a result.
Sunset Curve's Stolen Music Was Part Of Their Orpheum Set
When the Netflix series opens, it does so with Sunset Curve performing their song "Now Or Never" in a soundcheck at the Orpheum. The band never goes on to play their show because Luke, Alex, and Reggie die from eating "street dogs," but some of their music is stolen by their surviving band member.
Some of those stolen songs are revealed in the series, though the audience never hears them performed. Trevor Wilson has awards and platinum records for tracks like "My Name Is Luke" and "Crooked Teeth," which were both written by Luke for the band. Both songs are also listed in We Got The Music as part of their set for the Orpheum show that they never get to play. Also listed in the set is "Bright," the song Luke ends up giving to Julie to perform at school.