A stunning love letter to ballet and San Francisco, Jennifer Longo's (Six Feet Over It) quirky sophomore novel, Up to This Pointe, is the perfect meld of adorable and heart-wrenching.
Harper Scott--related to South Pole explorer Robert Falcon Scott--has lied her way into a National Science Foundation grant for teens to winter over at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. One hundred and forty days ago, she and her BFF Kate were on the brink of realizing their Plan, which hinged on the San Francisco Ballet offering both girls positions so they could fulfill their professional dance goals and stay together in their beloved hometown. Kate's innate talent and ability to pay for extra classes and stretching coaches paves her way, while Harper taught children's classes at their ballet school to cover her tuition and has dieted since she "was like, twelve." However, Harper so wholeheartedly believed her sacrifice, work and passion would get her through that she never sought backup possibilities, even though 17 is old to start a ballet career. Longo slowly teases out how the Plan went awry and how Harper moves forward from her heartbreak in a dual then-and-now narrative.
Longo offsets Harper's crushing lesson that "sometimes ballet does not love us back" with dreamy rambles through San Francisco, her depressed need "[t]o be frozen" with perky penguins, and one charming rascal of a Mr. Right Now with a steadfast, swoon-inducing Mr. Right. Older teens and adults will relate to Harper's dreams, loss and rebirth. --Jaclyn Fulwood, youth services librarian, Latah County Library District (Idaho)