To Live and Die for Dance

by Francine Paino

Overview

Chelly Bernardi is driven. Her desire to dance is all consuming but she must overcome many obstacles. At home there is mounting pressure for her to go to law school. At the studio Chelly must overcome her own insecurities and work feverishly to impress Madame Alex, the demanding founder of the Romanova Academy and Ballet Company.
Madame Alex’s daughter Natasha is dead, but her ghost stays close and watches. She waits for the right dancer: one who shows passion and strength. When Chelly arrives, Natasha believes that she is the one who can help expose murder and betrayal. Will Chelly be able to accept the notion of a ghost? Will she have the courage to set a trap to expose a murderer?
For those who like a good whodunit spiced with paranormal activity, To Live and Die for Dance is a young adult mystery that delves into the haunting story of an unsolved murder while following the struggles of a teen aspiring to a professional dance career.
.To Live and Die for Dance won awards in the 2011 Purple Dragonfly Bok Contest, the Hollywood Book Festival and the Millennium Book Contest.
“An enjoyable read from start to finish. The author shows great insight into the professional world of dance, crafting a fascinating adventure of an 18-year-old girl who gets caught up in the dance world, begins to see a ghost that is haunting the dance studio, and then agrees to help the ghost capture her killer.” Hollywood Book Festival review.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940046081275
Publisher:	Francine Paino
Publication date:	09/01/2014
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	256 KB

About the Author

Ms. Paino has had a lifelong passion for the arts and for history.
Her formal introduction to the world of ballet began many years ago when she worked as an office nurse to George Balanchine's personal physician, Dr. Leon Lewithin. It continued when her daughter began the quest to become a professional dancer and extended into her own work in arts administration. For more than twenty years, Ms. Paino worked with several schools and dance companies on Long Island, including Dance Theater of Long Island, the Eglevsky Ballet Company and the American Theater Dance Workshop. Ms. Paino's earned a B.S. in Public Administration from Roger Williams University and an M.A. in History from the American Military University/American Public University System. She believes that both formal and informal education is ongoing through life and she holds certificates of completion in Grant Writing from LIU, and Constitution 101 from Hillsdale College.

To Live and Die for Dance is Ms. Paino’s first novel and winner of a 2011 Purple Dragonfly Book Award, as well as Honorary Mention in the Hollywood Book Festival and Millennium Book Contest.

Ivan's Double Life, a short story won the 1997 California's Foster City Writers' Contest in Children's Stories.