The Turning Pointe
Random House Children's Books · Hardcover · February 22, 2022
A bold and emotionally gripping novel about a teenage Latinx girl finding freedom through dance and breaking expectations in 1980s Minnesota.
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- Who it’s for
- Dance, family expectations, and the unmistakable Minneapolis sound meet in a teenager’s fight for freedom.
- Themes
- Dance and artistic ambition, Family expectations, Personal freedom
- Genres
- Dance Stories for Teens, Hispanic & Latino YA, Coming of Age
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Start with this bookAbout this book
A bold and emotionally gripping novel about a teenage Latinx girl finding freedom through dance and breaking expectations in 1980s Minnesota. When sixteen-year-old Rosa Dominguez pirouettes, she is poetry in pointe shoes. And as the daughter of a tyrant ballet Master, Rosa seems destined to become the star principal dancer of her studio. But Rosa would do anything for one hour in the dance studio upstairs where Prince, the Purple One himself, is in the house.
Continue reading
After her father announces their upcoming auditions for a concert with Prince, Rosa is more determined than ever to succeed. Then Nikki--the cross-dressing, funky boy who works in the dance shop--leaps into her life. Weighed down by family expectations, Rosa is at a crossroads, desperate to escape so she can show everyone what she can do when freed of her pointe shoes. Now is her chance to break away from a life in tulle, grooving to that unmistakable Minneapolis sound reverberating through every bone in her body.
Finding Her Own Rhythm
Dance, family expectations, and the unmistakable Minneapolis sound meet in a teenager’s fight for freedom.
Come here for
- Ballet ambition colliding with a pull toward Prince and a different kind of movement
- A 1980s Minnesota setting where dance and music share the spotlight
Expect
- A coming-of-age story about breaking expectations
- A vivid blend of pointe shoes and Minneapolis sound
Where it sits
| Dance Stories for Teens | 75% |
|---|---|
| Hispanic & Latino YA | 68% |
| Coming of Age | 34% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- YA Family Stories
- Hispanic & Latino YA
- Dance Stories for Teens
- Authors
- Vanessa L. Torres
- Publisher
- Random House Children's Books
- Published
- February 22, 2022
- Format
- Hardcover
- Theme
- Dance and artistic ambition · Family expectations · Personal freedom
- Reading lane
- YA Family Stories