Moving As One

Seventeen-year-old Carlos and sixteen-year-old Sophy find each other arrogant and snobbish at first, but when his ballroom dancing school merges with her ballet school, they must deal with a growing mutual attraction

Grade 6-10-This first title in a new series introduces the students of Dance Tech, a merged ballet and ballroom dance school. The stereotypical multicultural cast includes Carlos Vargas, a hot-blooded Latino boy; Sophy Bartlett, a ballet beauty; and Roxanna Ivanov, a sultry Russian girl with a jealous streak. The plot is predictable, with Sophy and Carlos butting heads over which dance company is best, and Carlos's dance partner Roxanna becoming jealous as she realizes that a romance is developing from the conflict. Roxanna throws a monkey wrench into the plans for the school's fund-raiser, which of course brings Sophy and Carlos even closer together. The mall shopping, teen romance, and catty girl fights that fill these pages will probably keep undemanding young teens reading. The never-give-up, work-hard attitude of these dancers carries the story to its conclusion. Similar to the "Satin Slippers" series (Ballantine), written by the same author under the name Elizabeth Bernard, this is light reading for romance and ballet aficionados.
Angela J. Reynolds, West Slope Community Library, Portland, OR
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"In Carlos Vargas's arms I can be anything. Light as a whisper. Secret as smoke." So muses vixen Roxanna Ivanov in this lead-footed debut of the Heart Beats series, as the two teens tango at Rainbow Dance studio. The pair dreams of becoming famous partners on the ballroom circuit, but Roxanna would like to extend her relationship with Carlos well beyond the dance floor. Meanwhile, over at Ballet Academy, top student Sophy Bartlett is devastated to learn that the financially strapped school is closing its doors. A last-minute merger with Rainbow Dance saves the Academy, even if Sophy is sure that the association will ruin the Academy's stellar reputation. But when Sophy?much to Roxanna's chagrin?is paired with Carlos in a fund-raiser, the would-be ballerina discovers that salsa dancing has its redeeming features, not least of which is "moving as one" with Carlos. Unfortunately, sloppy descriptive writing and much inconsequential dialogue keep Rees's soap-opera-like plot from moving with much grace, and the dance passages are both scanty and superficial. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 6^-10. Gifted teen ballerina Sophy Bartlett faces the devastating prospect that her ballet school may close because of financial hardship. With her hopes and career dreams at stake, Sophy attends a brainstorming meeting, and who should be there but charismatic teenage Latin dancer Carlos Vargas, suggesting that his school, Rainbow Dance, merge with the Ballet Academy and the two operations share space and resources. Just what do you get when you mix ballet and salsa? A lot of feisty characters and spirited disagreements about the merits of popular dance and ballet, along with a good story and mostly well-drawn characters. Expect Sophy and Carlos to gradually fall for each other following much initial resistance. After all, this is a romance, the first in the Heart Beats series, and the attractive dancer pair is shown in counterpointed stance on the cover. We never get to the bottom of a friend's eating disorder issue, and there's a point when we think we're going to find out more about Sophy's parents' breakup than we do, but this is nevertheless satisfying fare for dance enthusiasts and romance fans. Anne O'Malley