Books: Ballet Books for Pre-teens

[Guest Herrera dancer]

Wanted: A Book about a pre-teen/teenage girl who is serious about ballet. Tells about her struggles and accomplishments.

 

If you know of any books like this...well...that would be just great.

[Guest dancer88291]

I know of this one book called Ballet Stories...and it consists of many short stories about ballet. Many of these stories are about teen/pre-teen girls. Hope this helps.

[dancepig]

Try this book "On Pointe" by Lorie Ann Grover here's the link at Amazon:

On Pointe Link at Amazon

 

 

(Note from Moderator: if you order this book -- or anything -- from Amazon, be sure to use the link at the top of each Ballet Talk page. Ballet Talk gets a small percentage of the purchase price. It is an easy way to support our favorite site!)

[qtpiedanzer01]

the book entitled

 

Dancer

[Guest probablydancin]

Thanks for the recomendations, I read On Pointe, and it is now my favorite book in the world. I highly reccomend this book to dancers!

[dancepig]

I'm glad you liked the book, and by the way, didn't know "(Note from Moderator: if you order this book -- or anything -- from Amazon, be sure to use the link at the top of each Ballet Talk page. Ballet Talk gets a small percentage of the purchase price. It is an easy way to support our favorite site!)" That's very good to know!

[Guest LisaB]

When I was younger I had a book called "Maggie Adams, Dancer". It was about a teenager trying to make it as a ballerina and her relationship with her parents. As I recall, the parents figured heavily in the story, but it was very much about the dancer. I don't remember who wrote it.

[minty]

this is a great book ; it's followed by Between dances, and Stay on your toes, Maggie Adams ; the three are by Karen Strickler Dean

[Guest LisaB]

There are sequels! How could I have missed them? It was one of my favorite books as a teen.

[Guest ABTsomeday]

Above I saw that "On Pointe" was recomended, and I would just like to comment that this was one of the best books I have ever read. I think it would make people who aren't dancers realize how much we have to go through, and make dancers realize the likeliness (spelling) of becoming a principal dancer at their favorite ballet company. I know my screename doesn't show that, LOL.

[Skittl1321]

When I was younger I loved reading books in a series. Especially new series, where I had the pleasure of checking the bookstore to see if the new book came out.

I imagine this series would be a similiar thrill.

 

Royal Ballet School Diaries is a new series by Alexandra Moss that follows girls in the lower division of the school. It is recommended for kids age 9-12, but because of the material covered younger kids with higher reading levels would probably enjoy it. Based on some of the not-yet published titles, it looks like they will be covering some of the stereotypical topics of a ballet school, but books like this are usually uplifting with a good life lesson.

 

At work I have gone through the Penguin Young Readers Group catalogs and am amazed by the number of ballet books published each year. I haven't seen them all, but if anyone would like a list of titles to look into, I would be glad to post them.

[msd]

My 11 year old dd came home from ballet class with a borrowed copy of the first in the series, and she enjoyed it very much. She is looking forward to more of the series. Ahhhh....summer vacation....reading on the porch swing. I'm jealous!

[ami1436]

Hi - just to clarify - are the diaries biographical accounts, or based on them or...?

[minty]

i've bought the first two books, but haven't had time to get into them yet ; Skittl1231, I'd love to see this list if it's not too much bother thanks !

[Ed McPherson]

for those enjoying the book, you might also like the weblog and diary's of students at Ballet Central in the UK

 

http://www.ballet.co.uk/weblogs/central/