Dance is an essential form of artistic expression and strength. These books focus on young Black girls who are passionate, dedicated, and invested in ballet & dance.
Tiny Pretty Things
Authors: Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra
Description: Tiny Pretty Things is a contemporary young adult novel set in a prestigious ballet school in New York City. It follows three ballet dancers who are competitive and ruthless in their goals of becoming the best prima ballerina. One dancer is the only Black ballet dancer at their school, another is white, and the final is biracial Korean American.
Includes: #Black #eastasian #korean #biracial #multipleperspectives #femaleprotagonist #ballet
Citation: Clayton, D. & Charaipotra, S. (2015). Tiny Pretty Things. HarperCollins.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Shiny Broken Pieces
Authors: Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra
Description: Shiny Broken Pieces is a contemporary young adult novel set in a prestigious ballet school. It is the sequel to Tiny Pretty Things. It follows three ballet dancers as they compete for a spot within the American Ballet Company. One dancer is the only Black ballet dancer, another is white, and the final is biracial Korean American.
Includes: #Black #eastasian #korean #biracial #multipleperspectives #femaleprotagonist #ballet
Citation: Clayton, D. & Charaipotra, S. (2016). Shiny broken pieces. HarperCollins.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Pointe
Author: Brandy Colbert
Description: Pointe is a contemporary young adult mystery novel. It follows a Black female ballet dancer who is recovering from disordered eating and her friend who returns from being kidnapped. When her best friend returns safely from being kidnapped for 4 years, he starts having post traumatic stress (PTSD) related to his abductor. This book deals with kidnapping, eating disorders, rape, drugs, ballet, and friendships.
Includes: #Black #africanamerican #femaleprotagonist #ballet #mentalhealth #PTSD
Citation: Colbert, B. (2014). Pointe. Penguin.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
I Wanna Be Where You Are
Author: Kristina Forest
Description: I Wanna Be Where You Are is a contemporary love story. It follows a female protagonist who is set on attending the dance conservatory of her dreams. Her mom, on the other hand, forbids her from applying. She devises a plan to road trip two hundred miles to the nearest audition. Her annoying neighbor and his dog tag along.
Includes: #africanamerican #black #contemporary #ballet #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Forest, K. (2019). I wanna be where you are. Roaring Book Press.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Dancer
Author: Lorri Hewett
Description: Dancer is a contemporary love story (written in the late 1990s). It follows a Black female protagonist who is deeply dedicated to her study fo ballet. Her parents are both working class and her father is the custodian at her elite private school where she attends on scholarship. She is the only Black student in her ballet school until a boy joins her classes and begins to dance with her despite his real loves being hip hop dance and break dancing. His aunt was a Black ballet dancer in the 1950s and offers to help teach her how to improve her dancing so that she will be competitive during her auditions into some of the larger dance conservatories in NYC, Seattle, and San Francisco.
Includes: #africanamerican #black #contemporary #ballet #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Hewett, L. (1999). Dancer. Puffin Books.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Another Way To Dance
Author: Martha Southgate
Description: Another Way To Dance is a contemporary love story (written in the late 1990s). It follows a 14 year old Black female protagonist who joins a summer program with the NYC School of American Ballet. Though she thinks that she is ready to dance her heart out and learn and grow in the summer program, she is not prepared to be one of only two Black dancers within her cohort, nor is she prepared to deal with the racism she encounters at the school.
Includes: #africanamerican #black #contemporary #ballet #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Southgate, M. (1998). Another Way To Dance. Laurel Leaf.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
