DANCE LIKE NO ONE'S WATCHING

In this follow-up to 2020’s Sing Like No One’s Listening, readers return to the cutthroat world of a prestigious London performing arts academy.

Seventeen-year-old Antoinette Delaney-Richardson had a fantastic summer with Fletch, her adoring new boyfriend. After the stress of her first year at Duke’s, she’s returning with a renewed sense of confidence and is looking forward to seeing friends. The place is aflutter with the excitement of a docu-series that will be capturing students’ daily lives. But this means there’s even less room for mistakes, between cameras in the classrooms and rehearsals for the demanding school musical. A video of Nettie singing went viral the previous year, and now the director wants to feature her in the program. She’s hesitant, but the director threatens to expose sensitive information about Nettie’s late mum and even manipulates footage to manufacture a story for ratings. Her friends experience their own troubles, including dancer Kiki’s ongoing struggle with body image. Fletch springs the announcement of a once-in-a-lifetime six-month apprenticeship two hours away, and alongside the continued search for answers about her ballet dancer mum’s past, Nettie faces industry and personal struggles. While just as enjoyable for musical theater aficionados as the earlier entry, this sequel gets into more intense aspects of a career in the arts. There’s plenty of drama to keep pages turning as readers root for Nettie. Nettie is white; diversity is woven into the supporting cast.

An honest, thoughtful look at show business’s personal toll.