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7 of YA’s Best Ballerina Books
Ballet is notoriously elegant, beautiful, and deceptively delicate, but those with more intimate knowledge of the dance know that inside those pristine pointe shoes lie blisters and blood. The best insider looks at ballet exemplify the way training and performance push the dancers to their limits, working them as hard as any athletes while demanding a show of grace. These are our recent faves, showing not just the power of ballet but the power of those who live and breathe it.
Tiny Pretty Things, by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
Ballet is everything to the students at the exclusive Manhattan academy attended by Bette, Gigi, and June, which means that to get ahead, sometimes they have to play a little dirty. Drama, backstabbing, and nasty pranks abound, revealing that even among those who dance beautifully, there’s plenty of room for ugliness.
Violet and Orianna (The Walls Around Us, by Nova Ren Suma)
Violet and Orianna were dancers, beautiful and talented, before a tragic night tore their world apart. Now Ori is gone and Violet is benefiting from her demise, relishing the spotlight that Ori, the superior dancer of the two, relinquished. A beautifully written, haunting story that examines both the power and uncertainty of guilt.
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Theo (Pointe, by Brandy Colbert)
Theo is a dancer, and she’s going places. Never mind her eating disorder; she has it under control. Never mind how rare black principal dancers are; she’s going to be one. At least until her kidnapped childhood best friend returns home, and Theo learns she played an unwitting role in his abduction. Now she’s struggling to hold on to her dream future, but she and only she can put herself back on the right track for the life she deserves.
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Etta (Not Otherwise Specified, by Hannah Moskowitz)
With one of the strongest voices you’ll read all year, Etta will firmly tell you who she is: Bisexual. Black. In recovery for an eating disorder. But the identity she struggles most to declare confidently is: Ballerina. Even though that’s the one that just may bring her the most joy and eventually, maybe even salvation.
Aly and Zed (Second Position, by Katherine Locke)
Okay, shh, this is actually New Adult and does not have teen characters, but in my defense…it is really freaking good. The first book in Locke’s District Ballet Company series introduces readers to Aly and Zed, dancers-slash-soulmates who harbor personal demons as well as reasons dance is off limits right now. For Zed, that hiatus is permanent; he lost his leg in a car accident. But Aly’s on a mental health break, and determined to return…even if it means losing the love of her life for good.
Alice (Side Effects May Vary, by Julie Murphy)
Once upon a time, Alice was a ballerina. Dancing under the tutelage of her friend Harvey’s mother, along to his accompaniment on piano, was one of her favorite things. But she gave it up to keep from giving too much of herself to a passion that might not give back…and then her body went ahead and betrayed her with cancer.
Natalya (One, Two, Three, by Elodie Nowodazkij)
Natalya was a ballerina, until a car accident took that from her, along with her father. Now she’s lost dance to her injuries, and her former ballerina mother to alcoholism, which leaves…not a whole lot, until a sexy soccer player named Antonio brings some much-needed light into her life. But with addiction running through her genes, he may not offer enough sunshine to overcome her darkness.