To dance: a ballerina's graphic novel (Siena Cherson Siegel with artwork by her husband Mark Siegel) is a memoir of one girl's life in dance as she trained to be a professional. Siena attended the School of American Ballet in the 1970s when the great George Balanchine reigned. I loved the graphic novel format for this book. The joy and pain shine through the spare words and lively art. For such a little book (you can read it in 30 minutes) there is a lot of information about the world of ballet as well as a character who you can care about. I think it would be enjoyed by upper elementary through high school - mostly by girls.
9 comments:
This sounds like a book that several girls I know would like to read. Does George Balanchine play a role in the story? What makes it a young adult novel rather than a book for younger readers?
I think I would enjoy this book and I can definitely see many girls finding it a fun read. I'm glad to see that you thought the graphic format worked for this book, I was really intrigued by this format, I have never been exposed to it before!
It's good to see a graphic novel that's primarily targeted toward female readers, I think the genre is mostly considered for boys.
Does this book glorify being a dancer or does it give the darker side (endless workouts, eating disorders, etc.) of the activity?
As Josh says, it is interesting and refreshing to see a graphic novel that is targeted at girls.
I thought the book was good enough to be an "all ages" sort of book. George Balanchine dies during the memoir and his influence is part of the story as well as other important Russians exiles (think Mikhail Baryshnikov). The pictures tell as much of the story as the words. The dieting and injuries are told almost entirely in pictures.
Thanks for a great gift idea for my ballerina niece! I must have missed part of the list for the graphic novels because I don't remember seeing this or many of the other books being reviewed on it. I must admit I'm relieved because most of the graphic novels I looked at weren't all that interesting to me.
Josh mentioned that graphic novels are mostly considered for boys. I was thinking that, too, at first, but after I looked through the Best Graphic novels 2009 list, I think I am changing my mind about that. Originally, I think that was definitely true, but the list has titles like, Isadora Duncan: A Graphic Biography, Life Sucks, Rapunzel’s Revenge, Echo: Moon Lake, Usagi Yojimbo: Tomoe's Story, Emiko Superstar, and Honey and Clover. I think there are girls out there who would be interested in reading a good graphic novel.
I feel the same way as Amber. This graphic novel sounds really interesting to me and I must have missed it on the list. It's great that this book is about ballet. I have a background in ballet and in my opinion, all girls interested in dance would probably love it because they can relate to it.
I agree with Josh about the target audience. I think graphic novels and video games, etc. (many new media) are targeted for boys. It is nice to see a graphic novel telling a story that is not about kung-fu fighting ninja's and wizards.
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