Dance (Older)

(3) YA Dominique (Dom) has always wanted to be a modern dancer, but her mother's struggling laundry business doesn't provide a lot of options after high school. Ben studies violin at the prestigious Brighton Academy and is obsessed with perfection. Their worlds collide against the backdrop of NYC in a sweeping, classic-feeling romance that deals with privilege and the lies we instinctually tell ourselves and others.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) YA Despite her fear of germs and her indifference to biology, seventeen-year-old MIT freshman Mei Lu is on the path to becoming a doctor, per her strict Taiwanese parents' wishes. But her first few months away inspire big changes: unbeknownst to her parents, Mei reconnects with her disowned older brother and indulges in her passion for dance. An endearing and at times laugh-out-loud coming-of-age story.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) YA At the prestigious American Ballet Conservatory, competition is cutthroat. New girl Gigi, queen bee Bette, and often-overlooked June alternate first-person narration of this tale of dancers betraying, manipulating, intimidating, and even maiming one other to get starring roles. A diverse cast, issues of cultural and sexual identity, and body image struggles add some depth to this high-drama--and highly entertaining--ballet thriller.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) YA Afro–Puerto Rican teen Beatriz is torn between her desire to dance and her blood and chosen families in mid-1980s New Jersey. When the TV show Fame announces a casting call, she tries to balance "gang life" (chosen family) with her "dance life." Will she follow her dreams? Charles ([cf2Like Vanessa) presents a strong, smart, and sometimes snarky teenager whose family has developed mechanisms of survival in the face of abuse and injustice.

Reviewer: Sujei Lugo | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) YA After being dumped due to his singular focus, self-proclaimed "cat video tycoon" Rick Gutiérrez takes up salsa dancing. To impress Ana, his fellow dancer/rebound crush, he takes her to Havana to visit his estranged family and study salsa. Rick's snarky voice, self-aware awkwardness, and (surprisingly relevant) internet savvy humorously balance the story's complex and poignant explorations of identity, romantic relationships, family, class, and politics.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) YA This heartfelt biography traces Ballets Russes star/choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky's (1890–1950) trajectory from lonesome childhood through his 1909 Paris debut and ensuing mega-stardom to his diagnosis of schizophrenia and institutionalization. Curlee sensitively explores Nijinsky's contradictions, including as a magnetic performer with little social grace and as a sex symbol tormented by his own sexual desires. The beautifully designed volume includes Curlee's striking jewel-toned portraits and archival photographs. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) YA Hip-Hop Insider series. This title, ideal for student research, explores hip-hop dance in historical, political, and cultural context. The clean layout employs a large font, wide margins, plentiful color photos, and informative sidebars. Overall, this series celebrates hip-hop as the voice of urban and marginalized populations while also objectively addressing concerns such as commercialization. Reading list, timeline. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(3) YA With Elaine DePrince. This inspirational memoir traces Michaela's journey from an orphanage in war-ravaged Sierra Leone through her adoption by an American couple to her rising ballet stardom (appearing in the documentary First Position; joining the Dutch National Ballet). Throughout, the daughter-and-mom writing team emphasizes how important optimism, love, and perseverance were to Michaela's success. Striking textual imagery heightens the immediacy of Michaela's experiences, whether tragic or triumphant.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) YA Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez. Real-life victim José Díaz is killed at a party in 1942 Los Angeles--leading to police racial profiling, biased news coverage, the trial and conviction of "a bunch / of Mexican kids," and the terrorizing of Mexican American neighborhoods and jazz-dancing zoot suiters by gangs of white sailors. Engle's historical novel in free verse weaves together plenty of voices for a vivid look at a seldom-represented moment in U.S. history. Bib.

Reviewer: Lettycia Terrones | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(2) YA With her overprotective mother away, seventeen-year-old African American ballerina Chloe plans to drive from her home in New Jersey to an audition in DC. She runs into a roadblock when her neighbor and frenemy, Eli, blackmails her into taking him (and his dog, Geezer), along for the ride. This is an engaging, romantic story that explores dealing with relationships, loss, and having the courage to follow your heart, romantically and otherwise.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) YA Struggling with anorexia and panic attacks, dancer Sam attends "Perform at Your Peak" therapy camp. She bonds with artists and athletes with similar issues; learns coping mechanisms; misguidedly pursues a crush on a counselor; and gradually redefines her beliefs and goals. A realistic, relatable examination of the painful consequences pressure and perfectionism can have for ambitious teens--with some potential paths to healing.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) YA At an isolated Italian estate, seventeen-year-old Penny attends finishing school and dances ballet with eleven other young women who are all devoted to their benefactor, Master. But when Penny discovers Master has tampered with their memories, she must save herself and the others. Penny is a resilient heroine, and the isolated school, doll-like pupils, and Master's controlling character create a perfectly creepy atmosphere.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(2) YA Childhood best friends until they were caught experimenting sexually and were traumatically separated, Dawn and Jessie reconnect just as they begin to experience parallel dissociative episodes: Dawn in animalistic fugue states, ballet dancer Jessie taken over by an experimental, visceral choreography. Assured, immediate prose relates the freedom the girls discover in dissociation and the profound belonging they find in one another; ultimately, they're led to another wrenching parting.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2017

(3) YA A Bolshoi Ballet soloist is attacked; corps member Lana replaces her in shows at Lincoln Center. This big break casts suspicion on Lana--especially when attacks continue in NYC. While investigating, Lana uncovers family secrets (mother Marina is the protagonist of Daughter, Dancer, Traitor, Spy). Passionate about dance but blisteringly cynical about the scandal-riddled Bolshoi, Lana makes a complex narrator for this ballet-themed thriller. Glos.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(2) YA Harper and her best friend planned to join the San Francisco Ballet. But when things don't go according to plan, Harper finds herself on an Antarctic research base. Chapters alternately relate Harper's time in Antarctica and, beginning "140 days ago," events leading to her current situation. Lighter subplots, including one involving a rival beaux, temper the poignancy of this affecting novel.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2016

(3) YA Sixteen-year-old Sylvie ditches her ballet training to search for her older sister Julia, a former ballerina who left town after a career-ending injury. Along the way, Sylvie sees mysterious fairy-tale visions, deals with her own uncertainties about ballet, and falls in love. McNally's prose is an intoxicating blend of witty, magical, and melancholy. The fairy-tale theme entwines gracefully with real-life hope and heartbreak, making this a poignant read.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(2) YA Myers's posthumously published novel imagines the life of legendary African American dancer William Henry Lane (approx. 1825–1854), better known as Juba, who toured Great Britain with minstrel group The Serenaders. Myers confronts head-on the racial realities of the pre–Emancipation Proclamation era. Appended are an epilogue clarifying fact from fiction and a note about Myers's research methods written by wife Constance Myers. Timeline.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(1) YA "Bloody Ballerina" Orianna Speerling, fifteen, is convicted of murdering two rival dancers. A month after her sentence begins, all forty-two girls at the detention center die in an unexplained mass killing. Ori's story is revealed through unreliable narrators Violet, Ori's best friend and fellow dancer, and Amber, another inmate. Lyrical, authoritative prose weaves the three girls' disparate lives into a single, spellbinding narrative.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2015

(2) YA This free-verse novel set in contemporary India stars Veda, a teenage Bharatanatyam dancer. After a tragic accident, one of Veda's legs must be amputated below the knee. Veda tries a series of customized prosthetic legs, determined to return to dancing as soon as possible. Brief lines, powerful images, and motifs of sound communicate Veda's struggle to accept her changed body.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2014

(2) YA When her parents get a divorce due to her dad's infidelity, Evie is thoroughly disillusioned with the notion of love. A chance encounter while disposing of her romance novels results in her obtaining a book titled Instructions for Dancing that gives her the ability to foresee the fate of any couple she happens to see kissing. With the book's help, she finds herself at a dance studio, where she is swept up in learning ballroom dance. As her new dance partner becomes her love interest, Evie, burdened with upsetting information, begins to explore whether love is ultimately worth the pain it can potentially cause. While the romantic and fantastical elements of the premise seem light, Yoon's (Everything, Everything, rev. 11/15; The Sun Is Also a Star, rev. 11/16) novel includes thoughtful messages about loss, grief, and the power of love. At times joyous and heartwarming, this emotional roller coaster of a story also has moments of melancholy and sorrow, and it ends with a bittersweet conclusion, much as readers may root for happily-ever-after. But as Evie sees stories of love and eventual heartbreak and weighs the cost of falling in love, she eventually learns just to enjoy the dance.

Reviewer: Monique Harris | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021