DANCING THROUGH THE SHADOWS - Hardcover

Tomlinson, Theresa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 185681713X ISBN 13: 9781856817134

Publisher: Random House UK, 1997

Synopsis

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Review:

Life is wonderful! Ellen prepares for a family vacation and has just been picked to dance in a special performance at school. All of the glitter and hope in her life comes crashing down, though, when Ellen learns that her mother has breast cancer. In a rare yet necessary novel, Theresa Tomlinson waxes frankly about what it is like for young people when a parent is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Readers will witness Ellen's selfishness, worry, and--ultimately--her courage, as she begins to process her mother's condition.

Poignantly woven into the tale is the story of the uncovering of an ancient healing spring on Ellen's school grounds. At first Ellen and her chums think the spring is just a muddy, fetid, trash-strewn bog. It takes courage to trust their teacher and believe that with some earnest muscle power they could reclaim the spring. In Dancing Through the Shadows metaphors run strong and wild, just like a healing brook. Through uncovering the muddy bog, Ellen gathers the strength necessary to be of real support to her mother. Lovely, refreshing, and just what the doctor ordered in great literature for teens.

From Kirkus Reviews:

Ellen's mother has breast cancer, and Ellen (a British teenager), like her father and brother, is trying her very best to be supportive, even though her own worry is often overwhelming. Woven into the account of the mother's lumpectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments is the story of the discovery of an ancient spring beneath a muddy, trash-strewn bank on the grounds of Ellen's school. Ellen and her best friend, Laura, begin helping Miss Corrigan, their history teacher (and, it turns out, a breast- cancer survivor), restore the site. ``Corrie'' believes that the site was once a sacred spot where travelers and those in search of healing drank and left offerings for ``Ellen of the Ways,'' a pagan goddess later identified with the Christian St. Helen. As her family copes with the ups and downs of the protracted cancer treatment, Ellen finds solace at the well. The book ends with a ceremony marking the restoration of the spring and a family holiday celebrating the end of the treatments--and the hope that Ellen's mother is well. Gracefully avoiding didacticism, Tomlinson (The Forestwife, 1995, etc.) makes regular reference to the many sources of healing, finding it not only in modern medicine, but in ancient wisdom, the mind and imagination, and in the love and support of family and friends. Readers will be borne along by the lively pace and the first-person, dialogue-heavy style. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House UK
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 185681713X
• ISBN 13: 9781856817134
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128