Review Detail

Aoi Inoue lives in Kansas in the 1980s. Her parents moved there from Japan, and her father is now the head of a math department at a small college. She and her best friend, Jessie (who now goes by Jessica), are spending the summer at a theater camp, and Aoi has decided to go by Annie, since people struggle so much with the pronunciation of her name. The camp is doing a production of Annie, and even though Annie is a better performer, the title role goes to Jessica, who "looks the part". Jessica's family is much better off, and her mother, while nice, pushes her daughter. Annie enjoys the production, and decides to continue with her acting, although her mother doesn't quite approve. When school starts, Annie struggles a bit in the classroom, especially in math with Mrs. Olds, who is old, strict, and doesn't make math fun. Annie struggles with some allergies to the family's cat, and ends up getting allergy shots, which cut into her schedule. She also joins the basketball team, which she enjoys. There is a play put on with the high school, The King and I, and Annie gets a good role as dancer in an important scene, and does well. She also meets a high school boy who is half Japanese, and Annie's mother is glad to make friends with his mother. Jessica claims that Annie got the role only because she is Asian, and the girls' already fragile relationship starts to unravel. There are a number of microaggressions with which Annie has to deal at school, from Jessica's barbs, to Mrs. Olds' casual sexism, to a well liked teacher who doesn't correct a student who says disparaging things about Japan's involvement in World War II. When her class at school decides to put on the play Alice in Wonderland, and have a writing contest for the dramatization, Annie is thrilled, since she is always rereading the book. Jessica tells her she can't be Alice because she doesn't look the part. Will the school, and a visting Hollywood director, be more progressive?