Indu's Time to Shine by Yasmine Naghdi

Today's read is one of three books, which each take a look at one of three friends. It shines into the world of ballet and heads toward those beginning readers, who have a good grip of their words, but aren't quite ready for full-fledged middle grade novels, yet. It promises tons of friendship, some drama, and lots of ballet.

Let's take a peek and see if this one has us searching for our ballet slippers or not.

INDU'S TIME TO SHINE

Ballet Besties

by Yasmine Naghdi

with Chitra Soundar

Illustrated by Paula Franco

Candlewick

Children's Fiction

225 pages

ages 6 and up

COMING...

SEPTEMBER 9th!!!

Whether they’re devoted dancers or in it just for fun, kids of all kinds are invited to the Shimmer and Shine studio! In this second book in a series, Indu overcomes some stage fright with the help of her ballet besties.

Indu loves learning ballet at her local community dance school, but unlike her friends, she doesn’t want to be a principal dancer when she grows up. While she’s a bit afraid of being on stage, dancing is still one of her favorite hobbies. When the class has the chance to see the ballet Cinderella put on professionally, Indu realizes the other way she’s different—her mom can’t afford the ticket. Indu figures out a way to go, but it makes her think: Aren’t there other kids out there who want to learn ballet and can’t? Shouldn’t ballet be for everyone? From a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet and an award-winning children’s author comes an engaging story of friendship, responsibility, and teamwork, with back matter explaining the various dance techniques and more. Black-and-white illustrations bring a diverse group of characters to life.

PUBLISHER    /     GOODREADS

MY TIDBITS

With tons of heart, these pages swirl through the joy of dance, fears of performing, and learning to embrace who you are to help others.

Indu enjoys dancing but isn't exactly fond of standing at the center of attention. With her friends, she attends a ballet school and wonders if this will really help her get past her stage fright. Everything at the school is wonderful, and she's enjoying the time with her friends. She does know that, unlike many of the others, her mother is struggling to make ends meet. So, when the class takes a trip to watch a performance of Cinderella, she's not surprised that her mom can't afford to pay for the ticket. This gets her thinking, and soon ballet becomes more than a class for her as she realizes others, who might want to take part, don't even have money for that.

These pages are packed with several themes, each holding goodness and lessons for life. While Indu feels a little different thanks to her mother's financial situation and often has to work things differently than other girls in her class do, she's never bitter or resentful. Rather, she understands her mother's situation pretty well, and instead, has empathy for those around her. Which also makes her a great friend. That's where the friendship tones come in to create a group of girls to giggle with, worry with, and enjoy. Also, there's some family goodness with Indu and her mother, an understanding teacher, and support in general. Add her battle with stage fright, and there's a lot, especially considering this is intended for readers, who aren't quite ready for middle grade novels.

Ballet sits at the heart of this book, and the author works in terminology and dance positions smoothly. The scenes are described just enough for readers to picture the surroundings but never weigh down the text. There's quite a bit of drama and heart, but the tale also proceeds along quickly enough to keep the pacing steady and strong. It's easy to enjoy the characters and wish to jump right in and join them. There's a very diverse scope of characters, and these deliver individual goodness as well.

This book is on the longer side for beginning readers and the vocabulary does exercise the word skills. Add the longer chapter length and heavier theme base, and I think it'd almost be a better fit for the lower end of the middle grade audience than for the chapter book side. The font is larger, the spacing generous, and there are little illustrations sprinkled throughout to lighten the mood and draw in. Ballet fans, who enjoy joining characters and dealing with familiar, life situations, will want to pick this one up.