While I Danced
by Lynn SlaughterPublish: Oct 24, 2013Literary Fiction Book Overview
A nerve-wracking audition for a summer ballet workshop reminds fifteen-year-old Cass how much she wishes her mom hadn’t died so young. Her dad isn’t exactly Mr. Encouragement when it comes to her dancing, and he shuts down whenever she asks about her mother. Cass feels as though her life is a puzzle with a giant piece missing. Dancing has become her safe place where she doesn’t have to think about why her father won’t discuss her mother, or why her best friend and boyfriend are acting weird. But as she moves closer to her dream of a career in ballet, Cass uncovers secrets her friends have been keeping. Then, in the midst of an intensely competitive summer dance program and the beginnings of a new romance with a fellow dancer, she makes an even more devastating discovery, a betrayal that leaves her questioning whether she even wants to dance at all. In a year when everything Cass has ever believed about her life turns out to be false, can she heal and forgive? And can she find her own way to pursue her passion for dance?
