It's the most wonderful time of the year...
Aspiring ballerina Dani Spevak's visions of sugar plums are dashed when she's assigned to understudy her nemesis, Hadley Taylor, in The Nutcracker. Pretty, popular, and rich, that girl has all the luck. Or so she thought.
When Hadley mysteriously disappears with opening night just around the corner, Dani can't sit idly by, even if it means losing the part. Now she's running all over Phoenix in a race against the clock. From reality TV trophy wives to sleazy real estate developers to a possible drug ring, the cast of suspects begins to add up. Will she find Hadley before the curtain rises?
"A compelling read from an author you need to know" -- Barnes & Noble's Nook First program
"From the authentic atmosphere of a ballet boarding school to the recognizable humor and angst of teenage girls, POINTE OF NO RETURN hits all the right notes and kept me turning the pages." - Former professional ballerina Miriam Landis-Wenger, author of BREAKING POINTE and GIRL IN MOTION
"POINTE OF NO RETURN had me anxiously watching the mystery unfold. Amanda Brice provides a fresh voice and bouncy writing style that will have you entertained from the get-go." - Marley Gibson, author of the popular GHOST HUNTRESS series and RADIATE
"Even if you don't know a thing about dance, you'll be easily drawn into this quick-paced series with authentic characters and big stakes." - Rhonda Stapleton, author of STRUCK
Genre: JUVENILE FICTION / GeneralNormally it would be pervy for a middle-aged man to touch a teenager’s rear. But there hasn’t been anything normal about my life ever since I moved to Arizona earlier this fall.
“Miss Spevak, your lines are a disgrace.”
“Point your toes!”
“Posture, Miss Spevak! Lift your carriage and lengthen your body!”
“You ladies dance like apes!”
“How many times do I have to tell you to tuck your buttocks?”
That last one might be cause for sexual harassment complaints anywhere else, but not here. I’m a student at Mountain Shadows Academy of the Arts, majoring in dance. I divide my days between ballet and Biology, tap and Trigonometry, hip hop and History, latin and Latin.
“Well, Miss Spevak?” Grigor Dmilov, the legendary principal dancer from the Phoenix Ballet, towered over my five foot three frame. His dark eyes bored into me as he pretended to wait for an answer that didn’t really matter since the question was rhetorical anyway – dancers aren’t allowed to talk in class. He used to intimidate me when I first came here.
Oh, who was I kidding? He still intimidated me. I just didn’t cry in the shower after class anymore.
Much.
The difference now was that I knew corrections were an important part of the process. We spent six hours every day in the studio, striving for perfection. Sometimes it felt like our teachers loved to torture us, but they were just trying to get us to live up to our potential and beyond. Getting corrections was a compliment because it showed that the teachers wanted to nurture your talent.
Not being noticed at all was far more damaging to your career. Nobody wanted to be invisible.
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Italian
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Already translated.
Translated by Manuela Dal Castello
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Spanish
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Already translated.
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