Triple Threats

Triple Threats
Airin Emery
Lechner Syndications, 2011

Triple Threats is actually the fourth book in The Dance series, but it can be read as a stand-alone. Though it is obvious that characters know each other within a series context, the story itself is not connected to anything preexisting. In fact, it's sort of a distinct "episode," with its own focus, narrative and cast.

After a chance summer workshop in musical theatre, Lori has fallen in love. Not only do you get to sing and wear cool costumes, but the dance numbers are freer and more flexible, even more fun, than what she performs in ballet. Promising her mother that she'll stick with ballet, Lori manages to score voice lessons - and an audition at a local college theatre's production of Guys and Dolls. When she lands a part, Lori is over the moon happy. She enjoys practice -  learning the songs and dance routines - and makes two friends: Dane (gorgeous child star, wanting to make it as an adult) and Courtney (super talented, but fighting for a chance to make her dreams come true). Together, the trio enjoy every minute of their first real musical theatre performance, and look forward to new adventures in the future.

Triple Threats is a quick read, both in terms of time-span of the story and in how fast it can be read. The characters are interesting, and the story was unique - I have not read another book about ballet dancers transitioning to musical theatre before, and actually, I'm not sure I've read about musical theatre. One thing that really bugged me though is the tense of the novel. It's some form of present tense, and reading it is like reading a play script - I felt like I should have been directing people to go to position X, smile just so and then say their line. It was a bit frustrating, but maybe that's just me.

eBook provided by publisher for review.

Bunheads

Bunheads
Sophie Flack
Poppy, 2011

I loved this book. Absolutely loved it. The cover is gorgeous. The story is engrossing. The characters are real, dimensional. And perhaps one of the coolest things? Sophie Flack was a professional ballet dancer, so Bunheads is full of little insider info-nuggets. Love it! ((Sidenote: I like this trend of insiders-turn-authors...it gives a sense of authenticity to the stories.))

Hannah Ward has been dancing for most of her nineteen-year-old life. It's her passion, her ambition, her life. The time and energy she has invested as a member of the Manhattan Ballet corps, always working towards the honor of becoming a soloist, have been satisfactorily rewarded by the thrill and rush of dancing. But then, by chance, she meets a cute pedestrian (non-dancer), named Jacob. And everything starts to change. As she continues to fight for her moment in the spotlight on stage, Hannah finds herself also taking a closer look at herself - at the dancers around her - at the world that exists beyond the theatre. The result is an engrossing story that is one-half dance and one-half coming-of-age. A combination I found particularly enjoyable.

I liked that Hannah was a little older than some YA characters; at 19, she's struggling to find her place in the world - orienting herself through the transition into 'adulthood', while simultaneously navigating the uber-challenging world of professional ballet. I loved all the dance details: the vocabulary, the descriptions, the emotions and frank examinations of what it means to be a ballet dancer (let alone achieve that illusive ballerina status). Hannah and the other dancers all have distinct personalities and voices, and their various approaches to handling their chosen life are intriguing and believable. I think that's one of the big appeals of Bunheads: it's believable. Even though I've never been in the professional dance world, the details and voices in Bunheads creates a world I can see and accept. Not to mention watching Hannah finally realize who she is and where she wants to go next - I can totally relate to her questioning and soul-searching.

A beautiful book that ended both too soon, and at just the right moment.

Book provided by my personal library.

Russian Winter

Russian Winter
Daphne Kalotay
Harper, 2010

I started reading this during the coldest week we've had this season. Between the frigid air outside (and sometimes inside, brr!) and the fact I always seem to equate "ballet" with "Christmas", it seemed a particularly fitting book selection. (Isn't it nice when the library holds list works out that way?) Going in to the reading, I was almost giddy with anticipation - I have a 'thing' for jewelry, and I thought this was going to be a lovely exploration of ballet and jewels and ballerinas in Russia-once-upon-a-time. That was not exactly what I got. However, I was not devastated - this ended up being a good read (and there are pages before every chapter that feature a piece from Nina's collection that is up for auction featuring descriptions like would appear in an auction catalogue).

While it took me a little bit to figure out the way Kalotay was telling the stories involved, once I figured out the 'trick' to reading, I was quickly engrossed. There are four story lines unfurling simultaneously: Nina's present, as she is struggling against Time & Age; Drew's journey to self-discovery, aided by her work with Nina's auction collection; Grigori's battle against memory and fight for identity; and Nina's past - which started everything. I was fascinated by the accounts of Communist Russia, and the lives of the artists as represented by Nina and her friends. That time is so foreign to me, so unexplored, I felt like I was truly getting a glimpse into a different world. As everything in the individual story lines grows and develops, eventually tying together in a stunning ending.

So while Russian Winter was not exactly what I expected, I'm glad I read it - there are details and ideas of life in Russia that made me think, and there are threads of humanity explored and discussed that are universal. The characters' discoveries can apply to any and all of us. That, I think, is part of what makes a book a keeper: the ability to create characters that are human. These characters are flawed and imperfect, but they are real. Their stories feel real. And there's just enough jewelry-talk to make me feel like I got what I wanted.

Book provided by my local library.