Book Review — Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom by Azura Tyabji and Jackson Neal

Rating: 3/5

Genre: Poetry

Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom is a crossover of our coming of age universes. Exploring the interplay of adolescence and media, Dear Azula is a masterclass on how Generation Z see themselves reflected on screen, how they find themselves in characters when the world does not grant them the possibility. These poems pay homage to the cartoon characters who made us the wicked lovestruck people that we are. These ubiquitous stories of teen ghost boys and water bending women gave wonder to a generation raised by recession. In illustrious villains we learned our own glamour. In chiseled chins and 2D teeth we learned desire. In Dear Azula, I Have a Crush on Danny Phantom we bring the early 2000s renaissance of animation into our modern lives to unpack, celebrate, revel, and remember.

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A short and fun collection of poems for the 2000s kids ie. Gen Z and younger millennials, those that grew up on Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon. Each poem references a different character to explore themes of childhood, puberty, relationships, and the existential notions of who do I want to be, who do I want to love, and what do I want to contribute to this world?

I do think this won’t have as wide of a reach outside Gen Z, but those that these do speak to will have a lot of fun reading them!