When being yourself isn't good enough, who should you be?
Best friends Rasheeda and Monique are both good girls. For Sheeda, that means keeping her friends close and following her deeply religious and strict aunt’s every rule. For Mo, that means not making waves in the prestigious and mostly White ballet intensive she’s been accepted to. But what happens when Sheeda catches the eye of Mo’s older brother, and the invisible racial barriers to Mo’s success as a ballerina turn out to be not so invisible? What happens when you discover that being yourself isn’t good enough? How do you fight back?
Told in dual perspectives, this provocative and timely novel for middle-school readers by Paula Chase, set in the same neighborhood as her acclaimed So Done and Dough Boys, that explores friendship, family, finding yourself, and standing your ground.
"Writing from the girls’ alternating third-person viewpoints, Chase lends authenticity to the characters’ distinct voices. She delves into the unique pressures of ballet and church cultures with empathetic understanding while also referencing difficulties faced by the Black working-class communities to which the main characters belong. An insightful look at unintentional pressures placed upon children." — Kirkus Reviews
Recommended Age | 11 - 13 |
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Author | Paula Chase |
ISBN | 0062965662 |
Publication Date | Sep 15, 2020 |
Publisher | Greenwillow Books |
Language | English |