Ivy absolutely loved *Casting April* by Wendy Lu, awarding it a perfect 5 out of 5 and praising its strong character growth and excellent writing. The story follows twelve-year-old April Zue, a Broadway-obsessed performer who fights for her fair shot at the school play's lead role after being sidelined because of her disability. Ivy highly recommends this heartfelt realistic fiction novel for anyone who loves theatre stories, and encourages readers to grab it when it releases on June 16th, 2026.
Ivy's Review
Casting April by Wendy Lu follows April Zue. Twelve-year-old April is a talented performer who is determined to land the starring role in the school play, but no one, not even her parents, believes she can do it because of her tracheostomy tube. Sixth-grader April lives and breathes all things Broadway. When she builds up the courage to audition for the lead role in the school play, she thinks she’s knocked it out of the park... until she finds out that she’s been assigned to the stage crew. April is devastated; it seems like the curtain is closing on her dream of being an actor. A day later, April overhears that the theatre director, Ms. Rooney, decided not to cast her because she’s disabled. With the help of her best friend, a sneaky student reporter, and her spirited cast mates, April learns to confront her own insecurities as a performer and proves to everyone, including Ms. Rooney, that she deserves a fair shot, all in time for opening night.
This book got a 5 out of 5 because it was SO GOOD. Casting April will come out on June 16th, 2026. I really liked the character growth in the book and it was really well written.
If you like realistic fiction stories starring theatre, you'll definitely like this book. I undoubtedly recommend that you pick this one up when it comes out; it's really good.
I have one more book to review today, so I'm going to go. Bye!
About This Book
Twelve-year-old April is a talented performer who is determined to land the starring role in the school play, but no one believes she can do it because of her tracheostomy tube. A heartwarming story of friendship, identity, and the importance of chasing your dreams. Sixth grader April Xue lives and breathes all things Broadway. When she builds up the courage to audition for the lead role in the school play, she thinks she's knocked it out of the park — until she finds out that she's been assigned to the stage crew. April is devastated—it seems like the curtain is closing on her dream of being an actor. A day later, April overhears that the theater director, Ms. Rooney, decided not to cast her because she's disabled. With the help of her best friend, a sneaky student reporter, and her spirited castmates, April learns to confront her own insecurities as a performer and proves to everyone (including Ms. Rooney) that she deserves a fair shot — all in time for opening night.