Middle School Library - Book Reviews

Sylvie Bertrand is a poor, young ballerina dancer growing up in Paris, 1870. At the opera house where she practices, painter Monsieur Degas is working on painting all the dancers. All Sylvie wants to do in life is become a danseuse ètoile, the highest ranking of dancers. But that becomes the least of her life, when war breaks out and her world turns another direction. Soon, Sylvie begins to wonder if her dream of being a ballet dancer is really just her mother’s and is not meant for Sylvie . When the opera house burns down, and her older sister Chantal becomes more involved in the war than Sylvie’s mom would like her to, Sylvie doesn’t know where to turn for help. Will Sylvie’s dream ever come true? Will anything ever be the same again?

This book is one that I would recommend to dancers because since I dance I found it much more enthralling than, I’m sure, most others would have. Even so, this book was well-written, with winding roads that lead you right up to great moral in the end. If you ever get the chance, be sure to check out Dancing Through Fire at your nearest library, because I don’t think that you’ll regret it.

Submitted by: Hannah DeYoung