Granted this was Southgate's first novel and it was for young adults - it just felt stiff and kind of shallow. Her later work is truly incredible and I can't wait to read more of her work in the future. So far The Fall of Rome and The Taste of Salt are my favorites. ( )

I loved this book. I really just picked it up at the library for something, anything to read after I finished Harry Potter. I figured it would just be another of what I call "my quick generic YA novels," you know?

Well it was quick and easy but it was anything but generic. Plot that the publishers give it (in my own terms): Vicki is a ballerina who is accepted to this really important summer dance school in NYC, but she's one of the only black girls there. She meets Michael at Wendy's and he introduces her to a world outside of her own imaginary world of perfection, a world in which she is the lover of this really famous ballerina man, and her parents never divorced, etc.

The book is so full of emotion. Vicki portrays almost the same feelings that I went through when my parents divorced. And the way she talks about dancing... I really truly had a semi-newfound desire to be a dancer, to feel that way.

It's no fairy tale. She goes through one heartbreaking experience and unleashes so much anger. I know what it feels like to just want to break down the way she did, and later sit and stare at the wall trying not to feel anything. Also, this guy she meets, Michael. They are different. They come from different worlds. They argue and disagree but they are so cute. In the conversations they have and the polite little things he does for her. Like walking on the curb-side of the sidewalk.

I don't have a way with words, but I felt like I needed to tell you about this book. It's not at all well known but it's so so well written and worth more than the few hours you'll spend reading it. ( )