AUDITION by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Audition by Stasia Ward Kehoe
Publication Date: October 13, 2011
Source: ARC for review
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Summary:

When high school junior Sara wins a coveted scholarship to study ballet, she must sacrifice everything for her new life as a professional dancer-in-training. Living in a strange city with a host family, she's deeply lonely-until she falls into the arms of Remington, a choreographer in his early twenties. At first, she loves being Rem's muse, but as she discovers a surprising passion for writing, she begins to question whether she's chosen the right path. Is Rem using her, or is it the other way around? And is dancing still her dream, or does she need something more? This debut novel in verse is as intense and romantic as it is eloquent.

 My thoughts:


Yet again, another author has showed me the power of telling a story in verse form. Like Ellen Hopkins, Stasia successfully reflects strong emotions with verse. While ballet dancing is nothing like drug addiction, Audition portrays a dark and competitive side of ballet that I would have never imagined.

Sara's life as a ballet dancer starts after she gets a scholarship offer at the Jersey Ballet. She is a naive dancer from the small town of Vermont, she feels so out of place and lonely and eventually learns that everything she thought she knew about dancing was nothing compared to what other experienced dancers know.

Sara is such a great character, she faces problems head on. While she struggles to figure out what she rally wants, there is also some romance backstage. Rem, one of the older dancers takes an interest in her, and he makes her feel wanted and loved. But their relationship does not take the turn that I thought it would, and their romance is a great example of how everything should not be rainbows and butterflies in a relationship.

While Rem was not one of my favorite characters, he somehow helped Sara realize that not everyone is going to help her, there are people who will take advantage of you.

Sara's strong nature and determination is something I admired from the start, If I were to be in her position--all alone in a city I knew no one-- I would probably be on the next plane home. But she worked hard to get what she wanted, even if, at the end, it might not have been what she needed.


Recommend: I would recommend Audition to Ellen Hopkins fans!

If you liked Audition, I would recommend checking out Bunheads by Sophie Flack. It is a less intense, perfect after you have read  Audition.

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