Children - Fiction & Literature

Doomed to Dance

Name: Doomed to Dance
Author: Annie Barrows
ISBN: 9780811876667

by Annie Barrows

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Overview

Finally! After months of begging their parents for ballet lessons, Ivy and Bean finally get what they want . . . well, not exactly. Much to their surprise, it turns out ballet lessons do not cover karate chops and roundhouse kicks. The girls have no interest in learning how to dance gracefully, but they promised their parents they would finish the entire balletcourse! When it comes time for Ivy and Bean to participate in the ocean-themed class recital, the girls must figure out a way to get out of it without breaking their promises.

About the Author, Annie Barrows

Annie Barrows is the author of many books for adults, including the bestselling The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, but Ivy and Bean is her first series for kids. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two daughters.

Sophie Blackall is an Australian illustrator whose previous books include Ruby's Wish and Meet Wild Boars. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Biography

A voracious reader (but an admittedly poor speller!), Annie Barrows grew up in northern California. One of her first jobs, while she was still in school, was re-shelving books in one of her favorite haunts, the public library. She attended the University of California at Berkeley and graduated with a degree in Medieval History. After graduation, she went to work for a publisher, editing books in many different fields.

Bitten by the writing bug, Barrows received her M.F.A in Creative Writing from California's Mills College. She wrote several books on such diverse topics as fortune telling, urban legends, and opera before branching into children's literature. In June of 2006, she released Ivy and Bean, the first award-winning book in a series about two young girls who become best friends in spite of their differences. In 2007, she published The Magic Half, a standalone children's fantasy about the middle child (between two sets of twins) who travels back in time and befriends a young girl in need of her help.

In addition, Barrows and her aunt, the late Mary Ann Shaffer, collaborated on a post-WWII epistolary novel entitled The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Conceived by Shaffer, the novel was accepted for publication in 2006, shortly before Shaffer fell ill. Barrows stepped in to complete the project, and the book was published in 2008 to positive reviews.

Good To Know

Here are some fascinating outtakes from our interview with Annie Barrows:

I can read palms. I learned when I was researching a book on fortune-telling, and I figure it's my back-up career if this writing thing doesn't work out. I can also read head lumps, but no thanks.

In my house, we have a Museum of Despair. The collection includes a burst pipe; the wire hanger that was being used to open my car when I surprised the thief; the stitches from my daughter's knee; a bottle of vodka so old that it's a product of the Soviet Union; and a broken thermometer.

There are two quotations stuck to the wall over my desk. Here they are: .

"But how could it be true, Sir?" said Peter.
"Why do you say that?" asked the Professor.
"Well, for one thing," said Peter, "if it was real why doesn't everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe? I mean, there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didn't pretend there was."
"What has that to do with it?" said the Professor.
"Well, Sir, if things are real, they're there all the time."
"Are they?" said the Professor; and Peter did not know quite what to say.

--from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis

"Behold, you look on a man that is soon to be dust. Yet because love endures all things, tell me, I pray you, how fares the human race: if new roofs be risen in the ancient cities, whose empire is it that now sways the world; an if any still survive, snared in the error of the demons."

--from "The Life of St. Paul the Hermit"

Most of the time, I don't do anything but work and hang out with my family, but I just got back from a three-week trip to England, where I got a chance to indulge some of my secret fascinations: Neolithic standing stones, haunted battlefields, out-of-the-way castles, and Victorian anthropological collections.

Reviews

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Editorials

Children's Literature - Susan Treadway M.Ed.

This delightful series, for more independent readers, shows how best friends learn to work together, solve problems, and have loads of surprising fun. Full of expressive black line illustrations, Book 6 has Ivy and Bean launching into ballet lessons thinking they have it made—or they are in over their heads? Will their friendship survive multiple disappointments? As the title implies and several chapters indicate, such as "Dip, Dip, Crash!" and "Bad News Beneath the Sea," unpleasant circumstances turn Ivy and Bean into master schemers. They are intent on finding a way to escape tremendous humiliation when ballet teacher Madame Joy casts them as Two Friendly Squids in her original production. As they stumble through practice sessions, they cannot believe they had begged for lessons. "We have made a terrible mistake." However, Ivy and Bean are definitely not quitters, except when it came to playing softball which was an entirely different situation. Performing "Wedding Beneath the Sea" on a real stage in a real theater as part of The World of Dance would be awesome. These best friends have incentive to remain true to their own creative devices. As plans for an aquarium field trip are announced, the girls decide to run away. An aquarium would be a quiet, safe place to lay low for awhile, and their ticket out of the ballet for good. Areas like Coastal Zones, the Kelp Forest, and where penguins, alligators, and sharks are located certainly offer possibilities. But when they come to "Life without Light: Creatures of the Deep Sea," they find the best, temporary hideaway. Or did they? Chapters called "Ocean Life Gone Bad" and "In Hot Water" tell about discovering a real squid that isquite frightening, but "oh, so interesting." Lastly, "Squidarinas" concludes the book with the girls deciding they have some authority to educate others about real squids. The once dreaded ballet production becomes exciting. It can be an artful scientific lesson that everyone will enjoy. Once again life is good, ballet is actually pretty fun. Ivy and Bean have brought readers another splendid adventure. Part of the "Ivy and Bean" series. Reviewer: Susan Treadway, M.Ed.

School Library Journal

Gr 2–3—Second-graders Ivy and Bean return to their mischievous ways as they beg their parents for ballet lessons. They get what they want, but class isn't exactly what they expected. Instead of the "kicking" and sword they saw in a picture of the ballet Giselle, they are disappointed to be learning positions, pliés, and how to be butterflies. When they are cast as squids in their first recital, they come up with several ideas for how to get out of performing without breaking their promise not to drop out of class. The story is solidly written, and the expressive black-and-white illustrations, some full page, add to the humor. Early chapter-book readers will appreciate and relate to the friends' dilemma.—Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH

From the Publisher

"Annie Barrows accomplishes the almost impossible task of reflecting the world of second grader, creating the tension and drama of family and friendships in language that can be read easily by child who recently graduated from easy readers to early chapter books. " - Lisa Von Drasek, Children's Librarian, Bank Street College of Education