POINTE Getting screwed over backstage by my married-ex tears my heart into a million tiny pieces. [Sitting in the audience at the ballet with my former fling wasn't my idea of fun.] I live in my pointe shoes, not even my ex can taint my love for ballet. [I hate the ballet. This on again/off again crap was getting old.] And then my whole world changes when I notice the smoldering gaze... [Then I look to the stage, and I can't take my eyes off...] OF... Leo Richards. [Adeline Parker.] Concentrating on anything except his sexy...everything, is impossible. [Her presence commands my attention...I've never experienced this before.] He makes me second-guess everything I've ever dreamed about. [She makes me question everything I've ever known.] Fighting him is a strategic sport-no clothes allowed. [All I can think about are her sexy ballerina legs wrapped around me-tutu definitely on.] BREAKING Our scandalous rendezvous is plastered all over NYC's tabloids. [Because of my status in Manhattan, now I've dragged her into the limelight.] My ex will stop at nothing to tear us apart. [Seriously powerful people forbid me to be with her.] Rumors about his past keep building. [I can't tell her this secret.] When it came to Leo, I only knew the big things. [When it came to Adeline, I knew nothing about the little things.] But uncovering those things about him [her] may push us past our breaking point.

Vicky Fallon can't take it. Her father has lost his job. Her parents are constantly fighting, and her troubled little brother is out of control. Once an honor student, Vicky is quickly falling behind in her classes at Bluford High. Now her teachers, friends, and new boyfriend, Martin Luna, want answers. Pressured from all sides, Vicky knows something is about to snap. But the explosion that hits her home is worse than anything she could image.--Book back cover.

This unique book gives you the extra help you need to get strong enough for pointe work. It includes lots of exercises, divided into four simple stages to work on; the flexibility of your feet and ankles, the strength of your little foot muscles, your turnout and your core control. It also guides you through tests for each stage so that you can work out where you problem areas are! This book is essential for any student preparing for, or already on pointe, and any teacher wanting to learn more about safely preparing students for the most beautiful of dance forms!Stage 1 - Fabulous FlexibilityThe first stage includes tests and exercises to make sure that your feet into the best possible position for pointe work. Some people will find this stage easy, others will find it much harder. No matter where you start, the easy exercises and stretches in this section will help you get a great looking pointe. Stage 2 - Marvelous MusclesHere you learn about all the different muscles in your feet, and why it is important to get the right ones strong! Mastering the fine control of your toes helps prevent blisters on the toes, as well as overuse problems in the shins. This stage will transform how you work with your feet forever. Stage 3 - Terrific TurnoutGetting onto pointe is not all about your feet. Find out how to find your true turnout muscles and make them stringer so that you don

A reckoning with one of our most beloved art forms, whose past and present are shaped by gender, racial, and class inequities—and a look inside the fight for its future Every day, in dance studios all across America, legions of little children line up at the barre to take ballet class. This time in the studio shapes their lives, instilling lessons about gender, power, bodies, and their place in the world both in and outside of dance. In Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal captures the intense love for ballet that so many dancers feel, while also grappling with its devastating shortcomings: the power imbalance of an art form performed mostly by women, but dominated by men; the impossible standards of beauty and thinness; and the racism that keeps so many people of color out of ballet. As the rigid traditions of ballet grow increasingly out of step with the modern world, a new generation of dancers is confronting these issues head on, in the studio and on stage. For ballet to survive the twenty-first century and forge a path into a more socially just future, this reckoning is essential.

A bold and emotionally gripping novel about a teenage Latinx girl finding freedom through dance and breaking expectations in 1980s Minnesota. When sixteen-year-old Rosa Dominguez pirouettes, she is poetry in pointe shoes. And as the daughter of a tyrant ballet Master, Rosa seems destined to become the star principal dancer of her studio. But Rosa would do anything for one hour in the dance studio upstairs where Prince, the Purple One himself, is in the house. After her father announces their upcoming auditions for a concert with Prince, Rosa is more determined than ever to succeed. Then Nikki--the cross-dressing, funky boy who works in the dance shop--leaps into her life. Weighed down by family expectations, Rosa is at a crossroads, desperate to escape so she can show everyone what she can do when freed of her pointe shoes. Now is her chance to break away from a life in tulle, grooving to that unmistakable Minneapolis sound reverberating through every bone in her body.

Three women enter the demanding West Point military academy in this “inspiring tribute to female friendship and female courage” (Kate Quinn, New York Times–bestselling author of The Alice Network). Duty. Honor. Country. That’s West Point’s motto, and every cadet who passes through its stone gates vows to live it. But on the eve of 9/11, as Dani, Hannah and Avery face four grueling years ahead, they realize they’ll only survive if they do it together. With athletic talent and a brilliant mind, Dani navigates West Point’s predominantly male environment with wit and confidence, breaking stereotypes and embracing new friends. Hannah’s grandfather, a legendary Army general, warns her about the dangers ahead, but she’s determined to let faith guide her path—and when that path leads to her soul mate, the future looks perfect. Wild child Avery doesn’t mind breaking a few rules (or hearts) along the way. But she can’t outpace her self-doubt, and the harder she tries, the further it leads her down a treacherous path. These three women know that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But soon, that adage no longer rings true—for their future, or their friendship. As they’re pulled in different directions, will their hard-forged bond prevail or shatter?

Speak meets Black Swan in this stunningly dramatic debut novel All that drama, plus pointe shoes? Yes, please: this is one book that’s bound to make a splash Theo is better now. She’s eating again, dating guys who are almost appropriate, and well on her way to becoming an elite ballet dancer. But when her oldest friend, Donovan, returns home after spending four long years with his kidnapper, Theo starts reliving memories about his abduction—and his abductor. Donovan isn’t talking about what happened, and even though Theo knows she didn’t do anything wrong, telling the truth would put everything she’s been living for at risk. But keeping quiet might be worse.