Review: Dance of Twilight and Tears by Zara Mills

Dance of Twilight and Tears by Zara Mills

Dance of Twilight and Tears
Zara Mills
FinnStar Publishing
Published January 20, 2022

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About Dance of Twilight and Tears

Algae and toe shoes, feathers and tutus

Behind the gilded doors of the Paris Opéra Ballet, two best friends, Madeleine and Lucie, dance the night away. But at first morning light, their human bodies transform into webbed feet, billed lips, and wings.

When enchanted, the girls are the Bois de Boulogne’s famous black and white swans. For ninety years, they have floated in the lake, unable to find true love and break the evil Dance Master’s curse. But when Madeleine meets American transplant Zig Young, everything … Continue reading

Review: Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

Kisses and Croissants by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau

Kisses and Croissants
Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau
Delacorte Press
Published April 6, 2021

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About Kisses and Croissants

Seventeen-year-old Mia, an American girl at an elite summer ballet program, has six weeks to achieve her dreams: to snag an audition with one of the world’s best ballet companies. But there’s more to Paris than ballet—especially when a charming French boy, Louis, wants to be her tour guide—and the pair discover the city has a few mysteries up its sleeve.

In the vein of romances like LOVE AND GELATO, … Continue reading

Review: Bright Burning Stars by A. K. Small

Bright Burning Stars by A. K. Small shows an almost impossibly thin girl in arabesque on a black background.

Bright Burning Stars
A. K. Small
Algonquin Young Readers
Available May 21, 2019

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About BRIGHT BURNING STARS

Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they’ve formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, … Continue reading

Review: Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth Kiem

Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth KiemDancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy (The Bolshoi Saga #1)
Elizabeth Kiem
Soho Teen
Published on August 13, 2013

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About Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy
Marya is a ballet dancer born of privilege; her mother, Sveta, is the most popular ballet dancer in the Soviet Union and its glamorous face to the West.

When Sveta disappears, Marya and her father suspect their own lives are in danger and arrange a harrowing defection. Marya is certain that her father is doomed to be murdered at their new home in Brighton Beach, where his closest friends are unapologetic criminals . . … Continue reading

Review: The Feuds by Avery Hastings

The Feuds by Avery HastingsThe Feuds
Avery Hastings
St. Martin’s Griffin

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As a member of the privileged, genetically enhanced Priors, Davis lives a sheltered life in which she pursues dance and enjoys parties with her friends. As the day of the Olympiads draws ever nearer, the pressure rises for Davis to succeed in competition, but to do that, she’ll have to be perfect.

Cole has only known about Priors from the outside. As an Imp, or Imperfect citizen, he’s second-class, barred from opportunities that could mean a world of difference to him and his struggling family. Cole makes his living as a fighter, working for an up-and-coming politician. When the man asks for one … Continue reading

Guilt and Innocence in The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren SumaThe Walls Around Us
Nova Ren Suma
Algonquin Books

Violet’s best friend Ori would have done anything for her. That’s what best friends do. At least, that’s what Violet tells herself happened that night behind the theater, the night those two girls died. After that, Ori gets sent upstate to a girls’ prison.

Amber waits for her new prison roommate. She’s known the girl will come since the night the doors opened, the night she saw the girl who didn’t belong. She also knows the new roommate starts the beginning of the end. That they will all die in a few weeks’ time.

In poetic narrative, Suma delivers a story of three girls and the guilt or innocence that binds them to … Continue reading