FRANCES DANCES (Frances in the Fourth Grade) - Softcover

Cooper, Ilene

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679811117 ISBN 13: 9780679811114

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers, 1991

Synopsis

As she takes ballet lessons and participates in a school play, a timid fourth-grader confronts her fears and learns a lesson about friendship

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

An entry in the ``Frances in the Fourth Grade'' series, which begins in a companion volume when the heroine's best friend moves away in Frances Takes a Chance (also 7/3/91). Here, Frances is thrilled that a dancing school is opening; a shy girl who usually toils quietly in the background, she dreams of pirouettes and the lead in Swan Lake. She persuades gregarious new friend Polly to join up with her; in return, Polly makes Frances join the basketball team. However, when Frances's stage debut occurs it's not as a ballerina but as last-minute substitute in a class skit. Since Frances never really does dance, balletomanes may feel cheated; and, though lively, much of this seems like a rehash of familiar elements and stories: ballet, stage fright, divorce (Polly's family), friends at odds (Polly and Frances hate each other's activities). Mixed into all this are subplots about relatives, a class bully, an ill sister, and the town's economic troubles, with no idea explored to a satisfying end. Pleasant enough, but nothing for readers to sink their teeth into. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 9-11) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-4-- In this fourth book about Frances McAllister, the shortest (and perhaps shyest) girl in the fourth grade, she takes ballet lessons. She can't face it alone, so she persuades her best friend, Polly, (who hates ballet) to come with her. Polly agrees, on the condition that Frances (who hates basketball) will join the team with her. As the year goes by, Frances comes to realize the value of having friends with different interests, and soon the girls are released from their unloved pastimes. There is a good, realistic feeling of family: Frances has altercations with her older brother and sister, but they do prefer one another to their difficult cousins who come to visit every now and then. Mr. McAllister's hardware business in the small Wisconsin town is not going as well as Polly's father's business--but Polly's parents are divorced and she doesn't see him very often. A better-than-average story about friendship, home, school, and self-confidence.
- Carolyn K. Jenks, Oyster River Elementary School, Durham, NH
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0679811117
• ISBN 13: 9780679811114
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112