Ellie and the Bunheads
"Maybe I can get a foot transplant operation!"
"About my feet," Ellie writes in her journal. "Let me just announce that they're way too big. They look like clown feet, and pink satin toe shoes don't help."
Returning to the familiar territory of her two previous books, Dog Years and Some Friend, Sally Warner reveals the many sides of a dancer, a daughter, a teenager, and a friend.
Ellie Lane may worry about every single part of her body, but she's probably the best bunhead--ballet dancer-- in Ms. Hawkins's ballet class. She's slender, she's graceful, and everyone knows she's sure to make it into the prestigious Philadelphia Dance theater when she turns thirteen.
Everyone, that is, except Ellie.
"I never was a dancer, but I spent ten years of my life as a ballet mom," Sally Warner says, laughing. "So I learned about dance from the inside out -- the hard work, the intrigue, the heartache, the occasional thrills. But I think this book is not only about dancing. It's about what it's like for any young person to care passionately about something few of the other kids know -- or care -- anything about."
1998 Books for the Teen Age
"Ellie's thoughts and actions ring true. . . this authentic portrayal of preteen angst will surely find an audience with middle-grade girls."
Booklist
"A clear-sighted portrayal of early adolescence."
Publishers Weekly