Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

When Louise's younger brother is cast as the Tin Man in their high school production of The Wizard of Oz, he's one of three minority students cast in major roles, and some members of the community are not happy about it. In her position as reporter for the school newspaper, Lou has a front-row seat to the rising tensions, and reflects on the many ways racism affects her life and the lives of those around her.

I love the premise of this book, with elements of theatre and journalism along with deep, important themes. However, I found the writing a little choppy, the dialogue a little stilted, and the characters not entirely relatable -- I never caught the emotion between the main character and her romantic partner, for instance. Perhaps because of those shortcomings, the book felt very message-y. I did learn some interesting (and unpleasant) stuff about L. Frank Baum, who was apparently racist in the extreme. We do need diverse books, and readers can learn a lot from this one -- I'm just hoping for better writing in future efforts along this line.

(Reviewed from an advance copy obtained through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.)