Pointe
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A “gritty and raw” (Parade) story that will transport readers into the intriguing and demanding world of elite ballet.
“A victory for young people, especially young women, everywhere.”—Chicago Tribune
“An extraordinary book.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Beautiful, sharp, and memorable.”—Courtney Summers, author of Cracked Up to Be
First he stole her heart. Then he took her friend. Now she knows the truth.
Theo is better now. She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and abductor. Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Theo Cartwright, from one of the few black families in a predominantly white Chicago suburb, lives for ballet, and she's destined for stardom on stage. When her childhood best friend Donovan who disappeared four years earlier at age 13 resurfaces, Theo's life is upended. Debut novelist Colbert has written an extraordinary book about dance, seamlessly intertwined with the chilling aftermath of a kidnapping. In honest, confident prose, Colbert builds characters whose flaws, struggles, and bad decisions make them real and indelibly memorable. Theo may be a gifted and driven dancer, but she's also still a 17-year-old who can shut down a smug classmate with an acid remark, drinks and smokes with her friends, became sexually involved with an older guy at 13 (and never really thought of it as rape), is keeping an eating disorder in check, and carries heavy secrets about her connection to Donovan's disappearance. Colbert gives all her characters similar depth (including the pianist/school drug dealer Theo is drawn to, even though he has a girlfriend), and it's this complexity and empathy that set this gripping story apart. Ages 14 up.
