Bunheads

Snowflakes are falling here on the blog. Christmas cookies have been made. The nog is brewing. You can practically hear the Sugar Plum fairy floating around in her tutu, right?

Well then, I’d say it’s just the right time for Bunheads, the perfect novel for any balletomane, no matter the time of year. Plus, you know you want it just for the cover. If you have an ounce of girly-girl inside of you, all of those tutus will surely set your heart a-flutter. Former professional dancer Sophie Flack’s debut is a rare glimpse inside the highly competitive and supremely physically challenging world of a top tier ballet company. It’s the story of Hannah, one dancer in the corps de ballet, and her struggle to be noticed and hopefully promoted to the role of principal dancer.

The extreme, grueling physical discipline required of any professional dancer really comes through in Flack’s writing. She manages to achieve a balance of not romanticizing what it means to be a dancer and still communicating the passion and the artistic rewards of ballet. It’s fun learning many behind the scenes secrets of the dance world. You’ll feel like you’re standing in the wings watching the magic happen. I think that the novel also has the potential to speak to readers who are not bunheads, since it’s really about making choices about the direction you want to head in life, deciding what you value most, taking risks, and not being afraid to go for something you’d never considered.

I kept on waiting for Hannah to go over to the dark side, you know, like she did:

But she doesn’t. She’s one of the pretty, non-psycho ballerinas. Perfect for Christmas. Now for the requisite reading music:

And if you want, here’s the cutie author showing you how to create your very own bunhead:

 

Bunheads is published by Poppy.

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