Dancing on the Edge - Hardcover

Nolan, Han

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152016481 ISBN 13: 9780152016487

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1997

Synopsis

Miracle McCloy, a girl raised by the mystical rules and beliefs of her clairvoyant grandmother, finds herself unable to cope in the real world, until an accident puts her in the hospital, where she finds help.

About this title

About the Author

HAN NOLAN is the author of several books, including Dancing on the Edge which won the National Book Award and Send Me Down a Miracle, a National Book Award finalist. She lives with her husband on the East Coast.

Reviews

Grade 6 Up. Raised in one of the world's most dysfunctional families, Miracle makes a harrowing journey to the brink of insanity before taking tentative steps to reclaim her life. A compassionate novel written with sensitivity and pathos.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Charting the near-destruction of a child's soul at the hands of the self-centered, bickering adults around her, Nolan (Send Me Down a Miracle, 1996, etc.) dives into the mind of an emotionally disturbed girl in an intense, exceptionally well-written novel. Miracle McCloy grows from a lonely ten-year-oldraised by her well-meaning, clairvoyant, but steeped-in-denial grandmotherto a silent and troubled teen. Her mother's death and father's abandonment make Miracle feel that she doesn't exist, so she floats through life as a nonentity, a bystander. At 14, she has a breakdown and severely burns herself. Institutionalized, with the help of a kindly doctor and heroic Aunt Casey, Miracle is forced to confront her family's secrets and uncover the truth about herself. While the characters initially seem like stereotypical Southern eccentrics, Nolan skillfully discloses their true natures, allowing them to blossom on the page. The book ends on a note of hope, as Miracle takes steps toward contentment and begins to participate fully in her own life. The shadows of truth, suffering, self-expression, and repression are examined without psychobabble in this sad, funny, and tender story. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0152016481
• ISBN 13: 9780152016487
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 244