Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: G; Violence: G (slap)
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SOME
12yo April wants to be an actress. So far her only experience has been through an app where she is cast in virtual shows. Now that she's in 6th grade, she tries out for the middle school fall show. She feels like she nails her audition, but is cast as a tech - stage assistant. What went wrong? When she overhears the drama teacher talking about her to some other teachers, April discovers she wasn't cast because she has a tracheostomy tube, and the teacher was worried there might be problems. April is angry and embarrassed, and when her mother asks if she got a part, she lies and says she got the lead.
I am so torn about this story. I liked that it was about a child with a trach tube trying to get everyone to see it's not a disability, but on the other hand I hated the representation of middle school theater so much. Mrs. Rooney, the drama teacher, was terrible and not in a funny way; too much responsibility was put on a very small (3-person?) tech crew of mostly 6th graders; bad behavior of cast members was allowed to continue that should have been stopped the first time, and a friendship was nearly lost because April was too busy with the show. There's more, but I don't want to rant. I don't feel the school theater community was fairly represented, and it really bothers me.
April is Chinese American
Lisa Librarian
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment