Feeling isolated as the only African American in her sixth grade class, Jessi gains a sense of belonging by participating in the Baby-sitters Club, learning sign language in order to communicate with a deaf child, and dancing in a ballet.

Delighted to be asked by Miss Bird to help during a little dancers' class, an exuberant Mia observes that the little ballerinas in her charge have difficulties performing steps, a challenge that prompts Mia to devise a clever solution.

This book follows the ballerinas from Miss Lina's school as they begin their day with ballet class and then dance their way to school and back home again.

Offering extra help to a newcomer in Miss Bird's dance class, Mia and Ruby are frustrated by Sara's determination to put her own spin on every dance move, a preference that introduces the girls to new ideas about creativity and individuality.

Throughout her history, the ballerina has been perceived as the embodiment of beauty and perfection the feminine ideal. But the reality is another story. From the earliest ballerinas in the 17th century, who often led double lives as concubines, through the poverty of the corps de ballet dancers in the 1800's and the anorexic and bulimic ballerinas of George Balanchine, starvation and exploitation have plagued ballerinas throughout history. Using...

Young Amelia, a secret agent, investigates a class of entranced ballet students, a scarecrow that can control crows, and a librarian whose work on the school library's computers seems to turn students into robots.

Sarah knows that she is the best dancer in her class, and she is eager to show off at the upcoming recital--but when a new move proves unexpectedly difficult and she has to ask for help, her confidence is shaken.

"Best friends Rasheeda and Monique navigate the ups and downs of a teenager's summer, Mo at home in the Cove; Sheeda at a sleepaway ballet intensive"--