A mostly low-key but compelling melodrama that spotlights a precise, graceful art form.
In Klenzing’s debut YA novel, two simultaneous productions of a classic ballet unfold in a small town.
High school senior Marie is the understudy for the lead role in a local production of The Nutcracker, and she practices at her mother Barbara’s dance studio, located in a suburban shopping mall in the Northeast United States. With the ballet’s performance just weeks away, Barbara, who’s directing the production, announces that she’s casting Peter Blair, who won a New York Metropolitan Ballet competition, as the Prince. Also, a movie production company will be sharing the studio’s rehearsal spaces and filming scenes for a Nutcracker movie inside the local mall at night; in between practices for the small-town performance, local dancers will get bit parts in the film. Jasmine, the self-centered lead in Barbara’s production, tries to get closer to Peter, as well as to the film’s star, famed pop singer Whitney Smith. However, her prima-donna attitude ends up causing conflict, instead—especially after she notices that kindhearted Marie has made friends with both Peter and Whitney. Klenzing provides readers with an enthralling glimpse into the world of ballet, in which dancers face pressure to maintain a certain weight and live in constant fear of injury. Throughout, the author skillfully develops her characters; for example, a visit from Barbara’s former dance partner, Roland, brings her past as a dancer to light; meanwhile, Marie wonders if her mom gave up her ballet career because she became pregnant with her. Marie is an affable narrator, but troublesome Jasmine is a more intriguing character as she screams insults with reckless abandon. Throughout, the author provides beaucoup nods to French ballet terminology, while also offering enough context to appease readers who are unfamiliar with the techniques. Alexander’s lightly sketched but detailed grayscale illustrations sublimely depict the various ballet numbers, including the Dance of the Clowns and the Battle of the Mouse King.
A mostly low-key but compelling melodrama that spotlights a precise, graceful art form.Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 276
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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