Summer Dance

A Moonbeam Children's Book Awards winner. Suggested for readers ages 10 to 13. Sara is thirteen and in the northern Michigan woods at Lakewood Dance Camp where she is excited, scared, and challenged by class auditions, rehearsals, and performances of authentic ballets. She just HAS to win one of the three scholarships for the next summer so she can continue her training or there's no chance of returning. She is determined to be a REAL dancer in a REAL company some day. But how can she look good enough to win a scholarship when she has to learn new forms of dance, try to figure out what Madame is saying with her Russian accent, dance all day long, and stay out of trouble? Robin keeps getting in her way, messing up rehearsals, blaming her for a sprained foot, and for problems with the boys across the lake. Even her new friend Erin seems more interested in having fun sometimes than taking their classes and rehearsals seriously. When dancers from The San Francisco Ballet make a visit and perform for the young dancers, Sara is even more inspired. Taking a master class with Yuri from the company is awesome and watching them perform "Swan Lake" is so romantic. But it could all be ruined by not keeping up in class, by getting caught looking into a secret practice room in the basement of the dance studio, or being caught off-limits on the boys' side of the lake in the mysterious cabin in the woods. Sara wants more than anything to sing the Lakewood song on stage after the final performance with a scholarship in hand, but she has trouble even making up a dance for the student concert where the boys will be the audience. If that isn't problem enough, she is paired with Robin for the final dance performance and they just can't get it together. Instead of making everything worse, Sara needs to find a way to bring teamwork and success. A glossary of dance and theater terms is included, along with a "What Do You Think?" discussion section at the end of the book.