The San Francisco Ballet Academy is in uproar! The Ballet Canada company is coming to town on the farewell tour of the famous dancer Lynne Vreeland. And every one of the students in the Academy is going to get the chance to share the stage with her. And she seems to be taking a special interest in Leah. Everyone is wonderfully excited - except for Vreeland's biggest fan, Kay. Kay suddenly gets ill and injured, and now it's up to Leah and her friend Alex to discover why Kay is trying so hard to avoid her idol.

The meeting of a great idol is always a tough plot device to pull off, and I found it refreshing that this idol - while becoming tarnished a little as the author shows her as a real person who sometimes makes bad or selfish decisions - doesn't end up being terrible to the girls. She's very personable and helpful to Leah in particular, and shows that even in show business there are people willing to help you share and learn.

Charming, though a bit melodramatic secret surrounding Kay takes away from it a little. There's also not nearly enough dancing in this one - and will Leah ever just mind her own business for a change? She suffers from typical - author shows how a fifteen year old ought to behave in perfect girl world, and as usual she seems terribly self-righteous in comparison to her fairly normal friends with emotions.

I sound harsh on these, and I suppose to a degree I am. They are decent children's books, and great for those with dreams of ballet and the stage, but they don't really keep up as you age. ( )