A review by missprint_
Dream, Annie, Dream by Waka T. Brown

3.0

Some of this was good but my overall take is I would have probably enjoyed it more in print--the audio production had way too much pep for my tastes. While the author's note offered some explanation of the setting, I spent most of the book wondering why exactly we were reading a story set in 1987. I appreciated Annie's love for both theater and basketball and how these interested were portrayed with such care. I didn't love the way Annie's nemesis teacher was shown--a lot of it felt like one note cheap shots although you could argue that the antagonist doesn't deserve better. The microagressions and outright racism Annie deals with are presented with nuance and I also appreciated the way other characters push back against some of the instances, particularly Natalie from the basketball team. It's incidental to the plot of the book but there is also a very good commentary on yellowface in old Hollywood later in the story which still needs to be discussed more at every level.